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The final vote count, published last Friday by Israel's Central Elections Committee, gave Netanyahu's bloc 53 seats

November 4, 2026

Fox News reports that the final vote count, published last Friday by Israel's Central Elections Committee, gave Netanyahu's bloc 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, compared with 48 for the opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot — 61 seats are needed to form a government.

NBC News reports that in the October 27 vote, neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the bloc of allies of his chief rival, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, secured a parliamentary majority needed to form a new government, raising the possibility of an alliance between the two rivals or an alliance between Eisenkot and some of the Arab-led parties. According to NBC News, the Shin Bet had requested approval from Israel’s attorney general on November 3 to interrogate several elected officials as part of the agency’s separate probe, including the Ra’am party leader Mansour Abbas and other senior Arab lawmakers, Israeli media reported. NBC News reports that Israel’s president is now expected to begin a series of sit-downs with political parties.

According to The Guardian, The Central Elections Committee said, “The review found no evidence of irregularities that compromised the integrity of the election or affected its results”. The final vote count, published last Friday by Israel's Central Elections Committee, gave Netanyahu's bloc 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, compared with 48 for the opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot — 61 seats are needed to form a government, Fox News reports. Neither man’s political bloc won an outright majority of 61 seats in the 120-member Parliament, The New York Times reports.

NBC News reports that in the October 27 vote, neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the bloc of allies of his chief rival, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, secured a parliamentary majority needed to form a new government, raising the possibility of an alliance between the two rivals or an alliance between Eisenkot and some of the Arab-led parties. According to NBC News, the Shin Bet had requested approval from Israel’s attorney general on November 3 to interrogate several elected officials as part of the agency’s separate probe, including the Ra’am party leader Mansour Abbas and other senior Arab lawmakers, Israeli media reported. NBC News reports that Israel’s president is now expected to begin a series of sit-downs with political parties. NBC News reports that the meetings are expected to unfold over the next several days. The two predominantly Arab parties he pointed his criticism at are the Joint List and Ra'am who secured a historic combined total of 19 seats, potentially positioning them as kingmakers in the government formation process, Fox News reports. If the Arab-led parties that oppose Mr. Netanyahu and won 19 seats also recommend him to Mr. Herzog, the president may well grant him the first opportunity to try and form a government, The New York Times reports. A separate investigation by the Shin Bet intelligence service, which is headed by David Zini, a Netanyahu appointee and loyalist, into allegations of foreign interference in the election is still ongoing, NBC News reports. NBC News reports that a far-right ally of Netanyahu, Itamar Ben-Gvir, rejected the committee’s findings that the elections were valid. NBC News reports that the request was sharply rejected. NBC News reports that he called on the Shin Bet, over which he has no jurisdiction, to “arrest all the leaders of the Arab political parties” and to interrogate them in “basement interrogation cells until these suspicions are fully clarified.” NBC News reports that Netanyahu’s Likud party did not respond to a request for comment. Israel's Central Elections Committee on November 4 approved the results of the Knesset election by a vote of 15-14, with two abstentions, saying that allegations of irregularities were still under investigation but did not warrant rejecting the results, Haaretz reports. Under the agreement, Netanyahu was to serve as prime minister for the first 18 months, with Gantz serving as alternate prime minister and defense minister before taking over as premier on November 17, 2021, Fox News reports. Fox News reports that however, the arrangement unraveled after the government failed to pass a state budget by the December 2020 deadline, triggering the Knesset's automatic dissolution and new elections. Israel held five elections between 2019 and 2022 after repeated deadlocks, Al Jazeera reports. Jerusalem Post reports that Likud released a response to the A-G's decision later on November 3, accusing her of "attempting to conceal the truth from the citizens of Israel." According to The New York Times and NYT, Shai said, “A pardon can be part of a package deal”. According to Al Jazeera, Sohlberg said, “There is one thing on which we must agree: election results, as lawfully determined, are binding on us all.” According to CBS News, Padora said, "Melat's political rise demonstrates that the next generation doesn't need the blessing, backing, or permission of a disconnected party establishment to pursue public office".

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Fox News reports that the two predominantly Arab parties he pointed his criticism at are the Joint List and Ra'am who secured a historic combined total of 19 seats, potentially positioning them as kingmakers in the government formation process. If the Arab-led parties that oppose Mr. Netanyahu and won 19 seats also recommend him to Mr. Herzog, the president may well grant him the first opportunity to try and form a government, The New York Times reports. However, the arrangement unraveled after the government failed to pass a state budget by the December 2020 deadline, triggering the Knesset's automatic dissolution and new elections, Fox News reports.

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Sources

Toggle read the full reports of 10 of the 11 outlets counted on this event. The other 1 are counted from their headlines and opening sentences.