Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition of right-wing and religious parties is leading the opposition as ballots continue to be tallied from this week’s Knesset election, according to updated partial results released Thursday morning by the Central Elections Committee.
As of a 9:08 a.m. update, with 5,278,597 votes counted across 12,032 polling stations, Netanyahu’s Likud party had captured 1,085,162 votes, or 20.65%. Combined with allied parties United Torah Judaism (293,990 votes, 5.59%), Otzma Yehudit (292,985 votes, 5.58%), Shas (277,689 votes, 5.28%) and Religious Zionism-Zehut (250,996 votes, 4.78%), Netanyahu’s bloc totaled 2,200,822 votes, or 41.88% of ballots counted so far.
The opposition camp, led by Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party with 849,121 votes (16.16%), trailed with a combined 1,978,268 votes, or 37.64%, when added to B’Yachad (476,857 votes, 9.07%), the Democrats (340,562 votes, 6.48%) and Yisrael Beiteinu (311,728 votes, 5.93%).
If the current trend holds, Israeli media project Netanyahu’s bloc would win 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, with the opposition taking 48 and Arab parties securing 19. Those projections remain subject to change as counting continues.
Netanyahu claims vindication
Netanyahu addressed the results early Wednesday, declaring that Likud had proven itself the largest party in the country despite pre-election polling that showed it winning far fewer seats.
“Do you remember how the propaganda channels manipulated public opinion? Likud—18 seats, 19 seats—they knew all along that it was a lie,” Netanyahu said. “They tried to discourage you, simply discourage you, from going to the polls. That’s what happened here. Well, the first thing that has become unequivocally clear is that Likud is the largest party in Israel. There is no disputing that.”
Netanyahu also argued the results show the right-wing bloc commands a decisive advantage among Israel’s Jewish and Zionist electorate, and he called for forming a government without relying on parties he characterized as opposed to the Jewish state.
“The right-wing bloc has a clear, overwhelming majority among the Zionist public, among the Jewish public, and among all those who support a Jewish state,” Netanyahu said. “And that is why I said, and I say again, that we must establish a strong national right-wing government … We must not, absolutely must not, put Israel at risk by forming a government that relies on anti-Zionist parties—parties that oppose our very existence.”
No guaranteed path to power yet
Despite his lead, Netanyahu does not yet have a clear route to the 61 seats required to form a governing coalition. Official results are due Nov. 4, after which President Isaac Herzog will consult with party leaders before deciding who gets the first chance to try to form a government. That assignment does not automatically go to the leader of the largest party, meaning Netanyahu’s path is not guaranteed.
Herzog on Wednesday called on party leaders to come into coalition talks willing to compromise, warning against the prospect of yet another election.
“We must do everything possible, certainly after yesterday, to avoid another election,” Herzog said at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. “I expect everyone who comes here to come with an open mind.”
Herzog said he would receive the certified results from Central Elections Committee Chairman Noam Sohlberg next week before beginning formal consultations with each party faction.
Israeli law sets a strict timetable for what follows. The first candidate Herzog taps gets 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, to assemble a coalition. If that effort fails, the president may hand the task to another candidate for another 28 days. Should that also collapse, a bloc of at least 61 lawmakers has 21 days to ask the president to name an alternative candidate, who then gets 14 more days. If no government emerges from that process, Israel would head to another election roughly 90 days later.
Herzog has said he intends to avoid forcing voters back to the polls again, stating: “I really, truly will do all I can so there won’t be repeat elections.”
This week’s vote for the 26th Knesset was Israel’s first general election since the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023.
