The camp of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ahead of his rival’s Opposition bloc but still short of a majority on Wednesday (October 28, 2026) after 50% of votes were counted in Israel’s pivotal general election.
Voters turned out in the highest numbers in decades to give their verdict on Mr. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister who has pushed the country sharply to the right and unleashed a wave of wars in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
Following the vote, both Mr. Netanyahu and his rival Gadi Eisenkot vowed to form a government despite neither being projected to win a majority. Exit polls had shown that Mr. Eisenkot, a former military chief and political novice, and his Opposition bloc were neck-and-neck with Mr. But Mr. Netanyahu, who has suggested a government relying on Arab votes would lack legitimacy. A lack of clear majority for either camp could mean weeks spent trying to cobble together coalitions, with possible new elections on the horizon if negotiations fail. A stalemate could in the immediate term benefit Mr. Netanyahu, who would remain caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed. Mr.
After 51.8% of ballots were counted, Mr. Netanyahu’s bloc was shown to have 55 of the 120 seats in the parliament. Netanyahu’s hard-right camp, with both winning about 51 seats, well away from the threshold for a majority in parliament. The 77-year-old prime minister, who has governed Israel on and off for nearly two decades, was unusually brief and did not directly claim victory.
Eisenkot said during the campaign he would not govern with Israeli Arab lawmakers, echoing the position of Mr. Netanyahu, greeting cheering supporters at a Jerusalem convention centre after 3 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Wednesday morning, called for a “strong government of the right” and said the “Jewish and Zionist majority must unite”.
