Israel faces a high-stakes political standoff after the October 27 national election, the country’s first vote since the 2023 Hamas attack.
Instead, they cast a single ballot for a closed party list and the 120 seats in parliament, known as the Knesset, are allocated in direct proportion to each party’s share of the national vote. Meanwhile, India employs a first-past-the-post system (FPTP) across 543 parliamentary constituencies. No single political party has ever won an outright 61-seat majority in Israel’s history. With the exit polls on Wednesday (October 28, 2026) too predicting no outright majority for any bloc, forming a coalition government appears to be their only way to go. To enter the 120-seat Knesset, a political list must clear an electoral threshold of 3.25% of the national vote, which equals roughly four seats. The first nominee has 28 days to form a government, with the President able to grant extensions of up to 14 additional days.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot of the Yashar party, have both claimed a mandate to form the next government after exit polls showed their respective camps in a neck-and-neck fight without an outright majority, leaving the outcome dependent on the final seat tally and negotiations with smaller parties. The main difference between Israeli and Indian elections lies in how votes translate into seats. Israel operates under a nationwide system of proportional representation, treating the country as a single voting constituency without separate geographic districts or local MPs. Israelis do not vote for individual candidates. Indian citizens cast ballots for local candidates in their respective constituencies and whichever candidate secures a majority vote in a constituency wins that seat. Parties that fall short of this line lose all their votes without representation, making party mergers and alliances pertinent ahead of candidate submission deadlines. For instance, Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition comprises his own right-wing party Likud, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s pro-settler Religious Zionism and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s far-right Jewish Power. The President generally selects the candidate considered best placed to secure parliamentary support, rather than being required to choose the leader of the largest party. If the attempt fails, another lawmaker may be given an opportunity. If subsequent efforts also fail, the process could lead to another election.
