Israel’s election count has settled on a result neither main bloc can govern with: 53 seats for Benjamin Netanyahu’s camp, 48 for Gadi Eisenkot’s, and a record 19 for the Arab-led parties. Sixty-one are needed for a majority.
Hiru News reported just after midnight Colombo time that the Central Elections Committee has released the figures, attributing the account to foreign media. Al Jazeera’s account gives the same three numbers.
| Bloc | Seats |
|---|---|
| Netanyahu’s bloc | 53 |
| Eisenkot’s opposition bloc | 48 |
| Arab-led parties (Ra’am and the Joint List) | 19 |
| Total | 120 |
The three figures sum to 120, the full Knesset. Netanyahu is eight seats short of a majority; Eisenkot is 13 short. Al Jazeera adds a detail Hiru does not carry: Likud is the largest single party, on 26 seats — which is not the same thing as commanding a majority, and on these numbers does not produce one.
How the count moved
This desk has tracked the figures since polling day, and the direction of travel is visible across the four snapshots:
| Stage | Netanyahu | Eisenkot | Arab parties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exit polls, 27 Oct | 50 | 52 | 18 |
| 66% counted | 56 | 48 | 16 |
| 84.5% counted | 54 | 49 | 17 |
| Final count | 53 | 48 | 19 |
Every row sums to 120. Netanyahu’s bloc peaked at 56 when two-thirds of ballots were in and has lost three seats since; the Arab parties have gained three over the same stretch, finishing at their highest ever.
A caution on “final”
Hiru’s filing describes these as the official final results. That framing runs slightly ahead of the process. Al Jazeera, publishing the same numbers on the same day, describes the count as nearly 90% complete, with more than 500,000 “double-envelope” ballots — those cast by soldiers, diplomats, prisoners and hospital patients — still to be counted, and notes they could still affect the seat distribution.
This desk’s earlier reporting recorded Al Jazeera’s own timetable: the final tally expected by Friday, with official results formally published on 4 November.
The two outlets agree exactly on the arithmetic. What they differ on is whether the count is closed. The seat figures above are the ones both carry; the certification is not yet done.
The Arab parties become decisive
With neither bloc near 61, the 19 Arab-held seats are the arithmetic that any government has to pass through. Hiru’s filing says so directly, and the parties themselves have begun saying what they intend to do with the position.
A separate Hiru filing, citing an Arab news service it does not name, quotes Yousef Jabareen saying he is ready to help remove Netanyahu — along with Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich — from power. Jabareen called the mandate the Arab parties received “historic,” and said Netanyahu’s rule had made life severely difficult for Arab citizens of Israel.
Al Jazeera reports the same posture from the Joint List, which pledged to work to remove Netanyahu’s government and prevent its return, and said it was ready to cooperate toward an alternative government while backing an anti-Netanyahu administration from outside rather than joining it.
A note on naming: Hiru’s Sinhala text identifies Jabareen as chairman of the “National List alliance.” Al Jazeera names the Joint List. The substance of the position — Arab-party backing for removing Netanyahu, offered from outside a coalition — is carried by both outlets; the organisational label is not, so this article reports the stance and not the title.
Eisenkot, quoted by Al Jazeera, read the result as a verdict: “This is the will of the people who expressed no confidence in the government of October 7th and the shirking.”
Likud alleges fraud
Hiru also reports that Netanyahu’s Likud party has accused the Arab parties of electoral irregularities, and has demanded a full investigation by the police and Shin Bet, the internal security service.
In a statement, Likud alleged bribery, intimidation, violence, forgery of documents and the use of illegal software. It said it had submitted hundreds of items of evidence to the police, Shin Bet and the Central Elections Committee, including envelopes containing money alongside ballots, threats against election committee members, individuals voting more than once, and software used to direct voters unlawfully.
These are allegations by a political party, not findings. No filing reports that the police, Shin Bet or the Central Elections Committee have substantiated any of them, opened an investigation, or responded at all. Likud’s statement also characterises the Arab parties as supporting terrorism; that is the party’s own language about its opponents, and no filing offers evidence for it.
The timing is worth stating plainly: the accusations were made as the Arab parties’ record result turned them into the decisive factor in forming a government.
Not reported
No filing says what the double-envelope ballots are expected to do to the seat distribution, or whether any bloc could still cross 61 on them. Nothing is reported on whom President Isaac Herzog will designate to attempt forming a government, or on when his consultations begin.
Netanyahu is not reported as having responded to the final figures, and Eisenkot is not reported as having set out a coalition path to 61. No filing says whether the Arab parties’ offer of outside support has been accepted, sought or rejected by Eisenkot’s bloc, or how Likud’s fraud allegations would affect any attempt to rely on those seats.
No authority is reported as having responded to Likud’s complaint.
