![\"Left-wing](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/6000.jpg\")
Leftwing protesters blocked roads in Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening to demand a joint government of Palestinians and Jewish Israelis. Photograph: Mostafa Alkharouf\/Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\nFinal ballots being tallied with results expected to show no clear winner<\/p>\n
Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage of the Israeli election.<\/p>\n
With 91% of votes now counted, the current results show prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s bloc projected to receive 53 seats, with the grouping of his opponent Gadi Eisenkot on 48 and the Palestinian parties on track to receive a record 19 seats.<\/p>\n
The final tally of absentee ballots is not expected to significantly shift the results, and with no grouping managing to reach the 61 seats needed for a majority in the Knesset, Israel could be in for weeks of uncertainty, as both sides try to gather enough support to form a government.<\/p>\n
Yair Golan, the leader of the centre-left Democrats, a junior partner in Eisenkot\u2019s bloc, has told Israeli media that he will meet leaders on Thursday for coalition talks. According to the Times of Israel, he will hold talks with Eisenkot, the leading opposition candidate and chair of the Yashar party, and Yair Lapid, the number-two in the opposition B\u2019Yachad party.<\/p>\n
This would mark the official start of coalition talks, and Golan has been the only opposition leader so far backing working with the parties led by Palestinian citizens of Israel.<\/p>\n
Leftwing protesters blocked roads in Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening to demand a joint government of Palestinians and Jewish Israelis. Photograph: Mostafa Alkharouf\/Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s president, Isaac Herzog, voiced hope that the country could avoid a second election. \u201cWe must do everything we can, certainly after yesterday, to avoid another round of elections,\u201d said Herzog, who is tasked with determining which candidate to tap to form a government, urging parties to keep \u201can open mind\u201d.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s future hangs in the balance after it became clear that Benjamin Netanyahu has lost his governing majority. His political fate now depends on whether opposition Jewish parties are prepared to forge a common front with Palestinian parties<\/a>, whose support surged in Tuesday\u2019s historic elections. Indeed, Gadi Eisenkot and his allies face a clear choice: either make a pact with Arab Israeli parties heading for a record result of 19 seats, or hand Netanyahu a political lifeline in the form of new elections or a unity government.<\/p>\n Yousef Jabareen, head of the Arab-majority Joint List, said the Israeli public had voted for new leadership and \u201canyone who wants to offer a substantive and genuine alternative to Netanyahu\u2019s blood-soaked government will have to talk to us\u201d. He told AFP that while he was willing to cooperate with an opposition-led government to unseat Netanyahu, he was not open to joining such a coalition outright. The ad hoc support of Palestinian lawmakers could enable Eisenkot to maintain a minority government, although few observers believe such an arrangement would survive for long.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s Central Elections Committee said it had received a Likud party complaint alleging that Arab parties had compromised election integrity and would examine the claims as part of its routine post-election review. Netanyahu\u2019s party responded to partial election results showing Arab-led parties could play a king-making rol<\/a>e in forming a new government by accusing them \u2013 without evidence \u2013 of \u201cstealing\u201d the election and demanding that the police and Shin Bet security service investigate the allegations.<\/p>\n UN rights chief Volker Turk has said that he hopes the next Israeli government will \u201cchange course massively\u201d and respect international law. \u201cThe message is: don\u2019t continue the current course of warfare where you think you are above international law, because I think that\u2019s what we have frankly seen in the current environment,\u201d Turk told reporters in New York. He added: \u201cIsrael has its obligations under international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and they need to respect them, and I hope that the next government will do precisely that and change course massively.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.04 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s choice: Netanyahu remaining in power or a Palestinian-backed coalition Hours before the final results from Israel\u2019s elections<\/a> were in, several things were clear. Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s far-right coalition had lost its mandate, and the opposition had a firm majority.<\/p>\n But most of Israel<\/a>\u2019s Jewish opposition ruled out governing with Palestinian-led parties, in the course of a racist election campaign in which Netanyahu painted Palestinian citizens as an enemy inside the state.<\/p>\n The self-imposed ban on a broader opposition alliance<\/a>, if it holds, offers Netanyahu the prospect of turning his defeat into another term in office \u2013 or at least a prolonged mandate as caretaker prime minister and perhaps another round of elections.<\/p>\n This confected barrier to unseating Netanyahu became the focus of Israeli media and analysts. \u201cNo Clear Government\u201d announced the newspaper Israel<\/a> Hayom. \u201cRoad to Unity Government Has Been Paved\u201d, read an article on Channel 12.<\/p>\n Mansour Abbas, leader of the Ra\u2019am party, holds his daughter as he casts his vote in Maghar, Israel. Photograph: Rami Shlush\/Reuters<\/p>\n Yair Golan, leader of the centre-left Democrats, attacked that framing. \u201cNetanyahu lost. I know how to count,\u201d he said in a statement calling for a government with Palestinians, who make up about 20% of Israel\u2019s population.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must no longer accept Netanyahu\u2019s racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have a majority. We have a responsibility. And we have an opportunity to form a change government in partnership with Arab citizens of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n While Palestinian-led parties do not describe themselves as Zionist, neither do some of the ultra-Orthodox groups who are a key part of Netanyahu\u2019s current coalition.<\/p>\n A survey taken as polls closed on election day showed that a clear majority of opposition voters supported forming a government with the Palestinian-led Ra\u2019am in order to unseat Netanyahu, political psychology researcher Eran Halperin said<\/a>.<\/p>\n But opposition leaders were silent on Wednesday, as they apparently tried to balance their desire to unseat Netanyahu with promises against working with Palestinians.<\/p>\n Former general Gadi Eisenkot<\/a>, who leads the biggest opposition party, has not directly ruled out governing with Palestinians but laid out conditions that made it politically impossible for them to join a coalition.<\/p>\n Palestinians have been clearer about their priorities. \u201cWe are ready and prepared to pave the way for the ousting of the Netanyahu government,\u201d Yousef Jabareen, leader of the larger Joint List, said on Wednesday<\/a>. \u201cThe change comes through Jewish-Arab partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Israel\u2019s elections committee has said it began counting absentee ballots at 1am local time. That count is expected to last until Thursday evening, with an estimated 500,000 ballots from military personnel and diplomats to be tallied up.<\/p>\n They are not expected to significantly change the results.<\/p>\n A voter casts his ballot at a school used as a polling station during Israel\u2019s general election in Tel Aviv. Photograph: David Goldman\/AP<\/p>\n Under Israeli electoral law, each voter is assigned a specific polling station and can only vote at that station. However in exceptional circumstances, some voters are allowed to cast their ballot at special polling stations they are not registered at. Among those afforded this exception are soldiers stationed at IDF bases, diplomats working abroad, prisoners and prison guards and people in hospital.<\/p>\n These absentee ballots are transported directly to the Knesset where they undergo a series of checks before they are counted, which is why they arrive in the final count much later.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Final ballots being tallied with results expected to show no clear winner<\/p>\n Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage of the Israeli election.<\/p>\n With 91% of votes now counted, the current results show prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s bloc projected to receive 53 seats, with the grouping of his opponent Gadi Eisenkot on 48 and the Palestinian parties on track to receive a record 19 seats.<\/p>\n The final tally of absentee ballots is not expected to significantly shift the results, and with no grouping managing to reach the 61 seats needed for a majority in the Knesset, Israel could be in for weeks of uncertainty, as both sides try to gather enough support to form a government.<\/p>\n Yair Golan, the leader of the centre-left Democrats, a junior partner in Eisenkot\u2019s bloc, has told Israeli media that he will meet leaders on Thursday for coalition talks. According to the Times of Israel, he will hold talks with Eisenkot, the leading opposition candidate and chair of the Yashar party, and Yair Lapid, the number-two in the opposition B\u2019Yachad party.<\/p>\n This would mark the official start of coalition talks, and Golan has been the only opposition leader so far backing working with the parties led by Palestinian citizens of Israel.<\/p>\n Leftwing protesters blocked roads in Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening to demand a joint government of Palestinians and Jewish Israelis. Photograph: Mostafa Alkharouf\/Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s president, Isaac Herzog, voiced hope that the country could avoid a second election. \u201cWe must do everything we can, certainly after yesterday, to avoid another round of elections,\u201d said Herzog, who is tasked with determining which candidate to tap to form a government, urging parties to keep \u201can open mind\u201d.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s future hangs in the balance after it became clear that Benjamin Netanyahu has lost his governing majority. His political fate now depends on whether opposition Jewish parties are prepared to forge a common front with Palestinian parties<\/a>, whose support surged in Tuesday\u2019s historic elections. Indeed, Gadi Eisenkot and his allies face a clear choice: either make a pact with Arab Israeli parties heading for a record result of 19 seats, or hand Netanyahu a political lifeline in the form of new elections or a unity government.<\/p>\n Yousef Jabareen, head of the Arab-majority Joint List, said the Israeli public had voted for new leadership and \u201canyone who wants to offer a substantive and genuine alternative to Netanyahu\u2019s blood-soaked government will have to talk to us\u201d. He told AFP that while he was willing to cooperate with an opposition-led government to unseat Netanyahu, he was not open to joining such a coalition outright. The ad hoc support of Palestinian lawmakers could enable Eisenkot to maintain a minority government, although few observers believe such an arrangement would survive for long.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s Central Elections Committee said it had received a Likud party complaint alleging that Arab parties had compromised election integrity and would examine the claims as part of its routine post-election review. Netanyahu\u2019s party responded to partial election results showing Arab-led parties could play a king-making rol<\/a>e in forming a new government by accusing them \u2013 without evidence \u2013 of \u201cstealing\u201d the election and demanding that the police and Shin Bet security service investigate the allegations.<\/p>\n UN rights chief Volker Turk has said that he hopes the next Israeli government will \u201cchange course massively\u201d and respect international law. \u201cThe message is: don\u2019t continue the current course of warfare where you think you are above international law, because I think that\u2019s what we have frankly seen in the current environment,\u201d Turk told reporters in New York. He added: \u201cIsrael has its obligations under international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and they need to respect them, and I hope that the next government will do precisely that and change course massively.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Emma](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793252897_540_Emma_Graham-Harrison,_L.png\")
Emma Graham-Harrison<\/p>\n