Israel Election Results 2026: Netanyahu Leads With 54 Seats As 84.5% Counted, Arab Parties Hold Key

Israel’s election remained inconclusive on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s bloc leading with 54 seats, against 49 for the opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, as 84.5% of ballot boxes had been counted by 12:34 pm. Arab-led parties held 17 seats, leaving both camps short of the 61 seats required for a majority in Israel’s 120-member Knesset. The results remain provisional, with soldiers’ and other special ballots still to be counted.

The election recorded 77.7% voter turnout, the highest since 1999, according to Israeli reports, reflecting intense public engagement after years of conflict and political divisions. Netanyahu, whose Likud party emerged as the largest party, called for a strong right-wing nationalist government and rejected relying on Arab-led parties, whose constituents account for around 20% of Israel’s population. The Joint List and Ra’am together held 17 seats in the latest partial count, potentially giving them significant influence over coalition negotiations.

Yair Golan, leader of The Democrats, urged opposition parties to work with Arab parties to form a government, arguing that Jewish and Arab citizens’ votes should carry equal weight. He said the opposition and Arab parties together had 65 seats against 55 for Netanyahu’s coalition in an earlier projection. Those figures differ from the later partial count, but his proposal highlights a possible route to an alternative government.

Eisenkot has left open conditional cooperation with Arab-led parties, including requirements concerning recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and Hamas as an extremist group. However, some potential opposition partners have rejected such an alliance. Disputes over ultra-Orthodox military service, religious-school funding and the influence of Haredi parties have also fuelled opposition criticism of Netanyahu’s coalition.

US President Donald Trump claimed his endorsement helped Netanyahu outperform expectations. In a Truth Social post, Trump said “ the whole tide turned ” after he backed the Israeli leader.

President Isaac Herzog is expected to consult party leaders before asking a candidate considered best placed to form a government to attempt coalition negotiations. The process could take weeks, and failure to secure a majority could eventually lead to another election.