Netanyahu's Bloc Wins Israeli Election But Falls Short of Majority
Final results show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc securing 53 seats, leaving him eight short of the 61 needed for a governing majority.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc secured 53 seats in Israel's national election, falling eight seats short of the 61 needed for a governing majority in the 120-member Knesset, according to final results published Friday by Israel's Central Elections Committee.
Netanyahu's Likud party emerged as the largest single party with 27 seats. Gadi Eisenkot's opposition bloc garnered 48 seats, with his Yashar party taking 21. Other parties saw Together (B'Yachad) win 12 seats, the Joint List 11, The Democrats and Ra'am eight each, Yisrael Beiteinu, United Torah Judaism, and Otzma Yehudit seven each, and Shas and Religious Zionism six each.
The election saw a final turnout of 77.9%, with 5,716,665 ballots cast. The electoral threshold of 3.25% required 184,947 votes to secure representation.
Netanyahu declared victory to supporters, stating, "The first thing that has become unequivocally clear is that Likud is the largest party in Israel," and called for the establishment of a "strong national right-wing government." Eisenkot also expressed his commitment to forming a governing coalition, vowing to "do everything in my power to form a Zionist government."
The final vote count was announced as the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) continued its investigation into suspected foreign interference in the election. Dean Livne, Acting Central Elections Committee Director General, stated the investigation would not impact the submitted results and did not target any specific segment of the population.
The election committee noted that the results are subject to routine verification processes, including checks of polling stations, data entry, and complaints. The finalized results are set to be submitted to the President of Israel on Wednesday, November 4. Following this, President Isaac Herzog will consult with party representatives to determine which lawmaker will be tasked with forming the next government. The 26th Knesset is scheduled to be sworn in on November 10.