Israel without a majority: 53 seats for Netanyahu, 48 for Eisenkot

The Knesset elections closed without a clear parliamentary majority. The bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won 53 seats, while the one led by centrist Gadi Eisenkot won 48: neither reaches the 61 seats needed to govern alone. The information currently comes from a single source (Israel’s Central Elections Committee); no independent confirmation available.

The most significant result of the vote concerns the Arab parties, which won a combined 19 seats, a sharp increase from the 10 obtained in 2022. Likud, while remaining the country’s largest party, drops from 32 to 24 MKs compared with the previous elections: a setback that marks the end of the single-party dominance Netanyahu’s party had enjoyed in recent electoral cycles.

“We will not allow a government with the Arabs, it is dangerous” — Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister

The premier’s statement, made in the hours following the close of the count, narrows the room for a possible agreement with the Arab parties precisely as their parliamentary weight has grown compared with the previous legislature. It is against this backdrop of numerical deadlock that Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s initiative comes in, as he will meet with both Netanyahu and Eisenkot to propose the formation of a national unity government between the two main blocs.

Without an agreement between Netanyahu and Eisenkot, or a deal involving the Arab parties despite the resistance declared by the outgoing prime minister, Israel risks being left without a stable government in the weeks following the vote. The number of seats won by the two main alliances — 53 and 48 out of 120 — leaves the smaller parties, Arab parties included, with decisive weight in the formation of any future majority in the Knesset. The gap of just five seats between the two main blocs also makes a quick solution to the governability crisis unlikely.