{"id":12159,"date":"2026-10-29T00:25:59","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T00:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=12159"},"modified":"2026-10-29T00:25:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T00:25:59","slug":"no-clear-winner-in-israel-election-with-nearly-90-percent-of-votes-counted-israel-election-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=12159","title":{"rendered":"No clear winner in Israel election with nearly 90 percent of votes counted | Israel Election 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By <\/span>Al Jazeera and Anadolu<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Published On 29 Oct 2026<\/span>29 Oct 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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No clear winner has emerged from Israel\u2019s election<\/a>, with nearly 90 percent of ballots counted and both major political blocs falling short of the 61 seats needed to form a government.<\/p>\n

The Israeli Central Elections Committee said on Wednesday that it had counted more than five million votes as of 9pm local time (19:00 GMT). Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s<\/a> bloc is on course to win 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot<\/a> is expected to secure 48 seats.<\/p>\n

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Projections from Tuesday\u2019s voting<\/a> also showed that the Arab parties \u2013 the Joint List and Ra\u2019am \u2013 could hold a record<\/a> combined 19 seats.<\/p>\n

Final election results could come as early as Thursday evening, though no clear winner is expected to emerge.<\/p>\n

More than 500,000 special double-envelope ballots remain to be counted, potentially changing the seat distribution. These include votes cast by soldiers, diplomats and others voting away from their registered polling stations.<\/p>\n

The vote \u2013 the first since the October 7, 2023, attacks and the Gaza genocide \u2013 was widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu\u2019s premiership. The 77-year-old appears far from defeated, despite lacking a clear majority.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu will remain caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed. President Isaac Herzog will begin consulting party leaders about forming a new administration next week, once the official election results are released.<\/p>\n

Herzog has urged all parties to avoid another vote that would stall the formation of a government. But coalition building is the norm in Israel, and no party has ever won an outright majority in the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the vote, Eisenkot ruled out forming a minority government with Arab-led parties. Netanyahu has also rejected such a prospect.<\/p>\n

As Netanyahu\u2019s bloc is set to be the largest, analysts predict that he will form a unity government that could include Eisenkot. However, such an outcome is far from certain.<\/p>\n

Eisenkot said in a post on X on Wednesday that his opposition alliance was now focused on the \u201cheavy task entrusted to us \u2013 bringing change to Israel and establishing a Zionist mobilisation government\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the will of the people who expressed no confidence in the government of October 7th and the shirking, and in the bloc of shirkers in general. A bloc that is at the low point of two decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid record turnout among Arab voters, Netanyahu\u2019s Likud party accused Arab parties of stealing the election.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe elections in the State of Israel were stolen by Arab parties that support terrorism and the elimination of the Jewish state through serious criminal offences of bribery, threats, violence, forgeries, and the use of prohibited software to mobilise voters,\u201d the party said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Likud party is transferring to the police, the Shin Bet, and the Central Elections Committee hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence regarding election theft in many Arab polling stations,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\"Palestinian
Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen reacts to exit polls at the party\u2019s election headquarters in Nazareth, northern Israel, on October 27, 2026 [Jamal Awad\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Israel\u2019s predominantly Arab Joint List political alliance<\/a> said in a statement published late on Wednesday by Turkish news agency Anadolu that preliminary figures showed Arab voter turnout played a decisive role in keeping Netanyahu and his coalition short of a parliamentary majority, while cautioning that the final results were yet to be announced.<\/p>\n

Voters answered incitement and intimidation at the ballot box, it said, rejecting a \u201cgovernment of butchers\u201d and its policies of home demolitions, racism and war crimes.<\/p>\n

The Joint List said its electoral support reflected demands for political unity and a force capable of defending Arab citizens\u2019 rights without concessions.<\/p>\n

It pledged to work to remove Netanyahu\u2019s government and prevent its return, saying it was ready to cooperate towards an alternative government.<\/p>\n

Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen said the alliance could back an anti-Netanyahu government from outside, but would not join it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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By Al Jazeera and Anadolu Published On 29 Oct 202629 Oct 2026 No clear winner has emerged from Israel\u2019s election, with nearly 90 percent of ballots counted and both major political blocs falling short of the 61 seats needed to form a government. The Israeli Central Elections Committee said on Wednesday that it had counted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t