Amir Cohen / Reuters via Fox News (2026 archive; crop).
Israel’s final election count has confirmed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc has lost its parliamentary majority, but whether opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot can assemble a government to replace him remains an open question as negotiations begin behind closed doors.
The completed count, published early Friday by Israel’s Central Elections Committee, gave Netanyahu’s bloc 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, compared with 48 for Eisenkot’s opposition alliance. The two predominantly Arab parties secured a historic 19 seats, placing them in a potentially decisive position.
Netanyahu’s Likud emerged as the largest individual party with 27 seats, followed by Eisenkot’s Yashar with 21 and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad with 12. Final voter turnout reached 77.9%, according to the Central Elections Committee results.
But the numbers leave neither major bloc with the 61 seats required for a majority, opening a complex political struggle involving potential partnerships with Arab parties, ultra-Orthodox lawmakers or a unity government bringing together longtime rivals.
A source familiar with opposition discussions, who spoke to Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity, described the outcome as a “bitter stalemate,” but not an impossible political situation.
The source said opposition leaders are approaching coalition negotiations with patience and experience rather than treating the inconclusive results as a defeat, arguing that the next government could depend on their ability to forge partnerships that previously seemed unlikely.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Efrat Lachter.
Originally published by Fox News.
JBizNews Desk | New York
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