Israel held a general election on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. By the next morning neither main camp had a clear path to power. Exit polls and the partial count both showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc in the lead but short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. A bloc led by former army chief Gadi Eisenkot came close behind. This was the first national vote since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023 and the wars that followed. Official results are not due until November 4, and coalition talks are likely to decide the outcome.

What happened

Turnout was high. Israel’s Central Elections Committee put it at 74.3% at 8 pm local time, two hours before polls closed, Al Jazeera reported. Final turnout in 2022 was 70.63%. The committee rejected a Likud request to extend voting hours.

The exit polls released when polls closed showed no winner. Al Jazeera reported projections of about 50 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc, 52 to 53 for Eisenkot’s camp and about 18 for Arab-led parties. The real count, which began overnight, moved in Netanyahu’s favour but did not give him a majority. In a count published early on October 28, with about half the votes tallied, Ynetnews projected 55 seats for the Netanyahu bloc, 49 for the Eisenkot bloc and 16 for the Arab parties. The Times of Israel reported a similar picture: 54 for Netanyahu’s camp, 49 for Eisenkot’s and 17 for Arab parties.

In the same Ynetnews projection, Likud was the largest party with 27 seats. Eisenkot’s Yashar! had 21, the Joint List 12, former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad 11, the Democrats 9, United Torah Judaism 9, Yisrael Beytenu 8, Shas 7, and Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism–Zehut 6 each. Ra’am had 4. These figures are provisional. Several parties were hovering near the 3.25% threshold for entering the Knesset, and roughly 600,000 to 650,000 “double-envelope” ballots, including soldiers’ votes, still have to be checked and counted separately.

What the leaders said

Netanyahu did not claim outright victory. The Times of Israel reported that he told supporters “We are still waiting for the true results.” He said the right had a “clear, decisive majority” among what he called the Zionist public, and that he planned to form a “right-wing, national, strong government”. He also urged Zionist parties to unite. Eisenkot said “The public chose change” and called on Netanyahu to step down, Ynetnews reported. On polling day, Netanyahu’s warnings about Arab turnout and his allegations against Ra’am activists drew accusations from Eisenkot’s party that he was preparing the ground to dispute the result. Yashar! called the fraud claims baseless, according to the Times of Israel.

Key facts

  • Election date: Tuesday, October 27, 2026. Israeli diplomats abroad voted on October 20.
  • Majority threshold: 61 of 120 Knesset seats; electoral threshold 3.25% of the vote.
  • Turnout: 74.3% by 8 pm (Central Elections Committee), against 70.63% in 2022.
  • Partial count (morning of October 28): Netanyahu bloc 54–55 seats, Eisenkot bloc 49, Arab-led parties 16–17.
  • Largest party: Likud, about 27 seats in partial projections.
  • Next steps: final tally expected by Friday; official results due November 4; President Isaac Herzog will then consult the parties before asking a candidate to form a government.

Background

Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. The election was widely seen as a referendum on his record since October 7, 2023: the security failure that day, the war in Gaza and the confrontations with Iran and its allies. The opposition regrouped around Eisenkot, a former chief of staff whose son was killed in Gaza, and Bennett. Before the vote, Israel’s Supreme Court reversed the disqualification of several Arab-led lists and rejected petitions to bar far-right candidates, so the main currents of opinion were all on the ballot.

Markets read the night as a sign of change, or at least of uncertainty. The shekel strengthened by more than 1% against the dollar on election day, the Times of Israel reported.

Perspective: what it means

This section is analysis.

The Arab vote decides it. If the partial numbers hold, neither Jewish-led bloc can govern without either breaking up the other side or relying, directly or indirectly, on Arab-led parties. Netanyahu has framed any such reliance as illegitimate. His opponents include Bennett, whose 2021 government was the first to bring an Arab party, Ra’am, into a coalition. They would have to decide whether they are willing to do something similar again. Whether Ra’am clears the 3.25% threshold could change the arithmetic by several seats.

Weeks, perhaps months, of talks. Israel has repeatedly struggled to form governments since 2019. Under the law, Herzog consults every party before naming a candidate, who then has up to 28 days, with a possible extension, to build a coalition. Until a new government is sworn in, Netanyahu stays on as prime minister. That means he will keep running policy on Gaza, Iran and relations with Washington while the count and the talks continue.

The India angle. India has strong defence, technology and trade ties with Israel and generally deals with whoever governs. Either outcome is unlikely to change that relationship in substance. For New Delhi, the practical questions are regional: the stability of the Gaza ceasefire arrangements, shipping security in the Red Sea and the Gulf, and the future of corridor projects such as IMEC, all of which depend on who is in charge in Jerusalem.

What to watch. Watch the double-envelope count, the parties near the threshold, any formal challenges to the count, and President Herzog’s consultations after November 4.

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