Netanyahu Bloc at 53 Seats in Knesset Election Count

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc is on course for 53 seats in the 26th Knesset, and the Arab parties for 19. On those figures, neither camp holds the majority needed to form Israel's next government.

The Central Elections Committee released the figures on Wednesday morning after almost five million votes had been counted, The Jerusalem Post reported. In that tally, Likud stands at 26 seats. United Torah Judaism, Shas and Otzma Yehudit have seven each, and the Religious Zionist Party has six. In the opposition, Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar has 21 seats and B'Yachad, led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, has 12. Yair Golan's Democrats have eight and Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beiteinu has seven. The Joint List has 12 seats and Ra'am has seven.

The size of the opposition bloc is not settled. The Post's report gives it 49 seats in one passage and 48 in another. An unverified tally circulated by the Abu Ali Express channel, with 85.6% of ballots counted, also put the Change bloc at 48, alongside 53 for Netanyahu's camp and 19 for the Arab lists.

A governing majority requires 61 of the Knesset's 120 seats. The deadlock could end in another election, although coalition negotiations may still produce an agreement. A minority government that wins a confidence vote without 61 seats is another possibility. Objections inside the opposition to relying on Arab parties could complicate that option.

A unity government with Netanyahu and Eisenkot appears unlikely. Eisenkot has refused to serve under Netanyahu, including in a rotation arrangement. He has called for the leader of the largest opposition party to become the bloc's candidate for prime minister, but the bloc has announced no agreement on that.

Democrats chairman Yair Golan claimed victory for the opposition by counting the Arab parties. "Netanyahu lost. I know how to count to 120. Sixty-five is more than 55. That's how Israeli democracy works. Period," he wrote. If Netanyahu wanted a Zionist bloc, Golan added, he should "subtract from his own bloc the 16 Knesset members from the non-Zionist Haredi parties."

Joint List chairman Yousef Jabareen declared his party ready to "pave the way for the ousting of the Netanyahu government." Writing on X, he added: "The change comes through Jewish-Arab partnership, a true and equal partnership. No less than that, and no more than that." Joint List faction chairman Ahmad Tibi told Army Radio: "The opposition bloc will be able to form a government if it has the courage. We are extending a hand and are ready to help."

Before the vote, Jabareen set out his terms for backing a government that replaces Netanyahu from outside the coalition. They included a diplomatic path toward a Palestinian state, a funded anti-crime plan and an end to home demolitions.

Two breakaway chareidi parties fell far short of the 3.25% threshold. With 77% of votes counted, Tzeva Shachor had 9,308 votes and Moti Leitner's HaTzibur HaChareidi had 8,748. A single seat requires about 36,000 votes.