The October 29 ballot returned a deeply divided Knesset. Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-aligned bloc secured 53 of the 120 seats, while the main opposition obtained 48 and Arab-led parties captured a historic 19 seats. The arithmetic now demands a coalition of at least 61 seats, leaving the incumbent government well short of a clear mandate.
Results and immediate reactions
In the hours following the official count, supporters of Netanyahu clashed with left-wing demonstrators outside the Herzliya home of Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party. Protesters urged Eisenkot to join forces with the Arab parties, a maneuver that has occurred only once before, in 2021. Meanwhile, Yair Lapid posted on X, urging the public to exercise patience as “the truly hard part” of coalition building begins.
President Isaac Herzog is slated to receive the certified results by next Wednesday and will then assign the task of forming a government. While tradition often grants the mandate to the party with the most votes, Herzog retains discretion to appoint any figure who appears capable of assembling the required majority.
Coalition negotiations and presidential role
Negotiations are expected to involve a spectrum of parties—from ultra-Orthodox factions to secular groups and the newly empowered Arab bloc. If these talks stall, Israeli law mandates a fresh election early next year, a scenario Herzog publicly pledged to avoid. The Knesset’s inaugural session is scheduled for November 10, and the outcome of the speaker election could give Eisenkot’s bloc, potentially allied with Arab parties, significant agenda-setting power before a formal government takes shape.
Netanyahu’s allegations and security investigations
In the final minutes before the results were announced, Netanyahu and members of Likud circulated unverified claims that the Arab parties had “stolen” the vote, insinuating foreign assistance possibly linked to Qatar. Qatar issued a swift denial, labeling the accusations “ridiculous and dangerous.” Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, head of the election committee, noted “serious suspicions” of external interference but could not substantiate them, prompting a request to the Shin Bet for a deeper probe.
Acting director-general Dean Livne cautioned that the investigation, based on classified intelligence, “does not affect the final results” and affirmed that the allegations were “entirely unfounded.” The Shin Bet reiterated that its inquiry aims to “avoid casting aspersions” on any segment of the electorate that exercised its democratic right.
Netanyahu’s public stance, posted on X, declared that forming a coalition with Arab parties would be “forbidden,” intensifying the political pressure on opposition leaders who must now decide whether to break their pre-election pledges or seek a pragmatic partnership with the incumbent bloc.
Should Netanyahu ultimately step aside, the aftermath could trigger investigations into longstanding corruption charges and a review of security lapses leading up to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
