Israelis turned out in record numbers to vote, but the results may not settle who leads the country for weeks. Turnout reached a record, according to Israeli media.
The Israel election ended Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, with no clear winner, according to exit polls from Israeli television networks, setting up what could be weeks of coalition talks.
What did the Israel election exit polls show?
Channel 12 projected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud would win 24 seats, the most of any party but down from the 32 it holds now. Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party was projected to win 22 seats, and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s party, which ran together with Yair Lapid, was projected to win 12.
Channel 12 projected Netanyahu’s bloc of parties on the right and religious parties at about 50 seats, while the opposition bloc was projected at about 52. Arab parties were projected to win 17 to 18 seats, a historic high.
Neither bloc was projected to reach the 61 seats needed for a majority in the Knesset, which has 120 seats. Other networks gave similar results, though a channel widely seen as sympathetic to Netanyahu projected his bloc at 60. Exit polls in Israel have sometimes differed from final results by a few seats.
How are the leaders reacting?
Netanyahu claimed his bloc won a decisive majority among Jewish Zionist voters and said he plans to form a government on the right. Eisenkot had urged him to accept defeat and step down. Eisenkot leads the largest opposition party.
Bennett told supporters that Netanyahu had lost. His party had polled higher earlier in the campaign before slipping in the final weeks.
As the official count in the Israel election progressed, Netanyahu’s bloc was running somewhat ahead of the exit poll projections but still short of a majority, according to Israeli media.
Why are Arab parties so important?
The opposition parties led by Jewish politicians fall short of a majority on their own. Reaching 61 seats would likely require support from Arab parties, which several opposition leaders pledged during the campaign not to partner with. Ra’am, an Islamist party, joined a governing coalition in 2021, the first Arab party to do so.
That leaves Israel facing the possibility of another deadlock, after years of political instability that included five elections between 2019 and 2022.
What happens next after the Israel election?
The Israel election count is expected to be finalized Oct. 30, and official results will be published Nov. 4. A party must win at least 3.25% of the vote to enter the Knesset, and several smaller parties were projected to fall short.
If no party wins a majority, President Isaac Herzog will choose the leader he believes is best positioned to form a coalition and give that leader 42 days to do so. If that fails, other leaders may try before a new election is called. The process could stretch into early next year.
The Israel election comes after a turbulent period that included the war in Gaza, the conflict with Iran and the dissolution of the Knesset in July.
Why does the Israel election matter?
It is the first national vote since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and it serves as a referendum on Netanyahu, who has led Israel longer than anyone else.
Security remained a central issue. Days before the vote, a shooting near Hebron prompted Netanyahu to order preparations for a full closure of the West Bank.
The outcome of the Israel election could shape the country’s approach to the West Bank, Gaza and its relationship with the United States.
