Preliminary election results
With approximately 85.6% of votes counted, the official update put the outgoing coalition at 53 seats and the Change Bloc at 48, with the Joint List’s 12 seats and Ra’am’s seven listed separately. Neither bloc had a majority. Likud remained the largest party with 26 seats, followed by Yashar with 21. Both had lost one seat since the 77% count, when the Netanyahu bloc held 54 seats.
Beyachad (Together) held 12 seats and The Democrats eight. Yisrael Beiteinu, United Torah Judaism, Otzma Yehudit and Shas each held seven.
The party listing contained an unresolved discrepancy: Religious Zionism and Zehut were each assigned six seats, producing a total of 126, while the bloc breakdown totaled 120. Earlier reporting listed Religious Zionism-Zehut together at six seats.
Reservists and the Economic Party remained below the electoral threshold at 2.63%, as did Amcha Yisrael at 1.61%. Results remained preliminary. At the 77% count, double-envelope ballots, including those from soldiers and other special voting groups, had yet to be counted.
Amit Segal assessed that the overnight exit polls suggested Netanyahu had lost without identifying a winner on the opposing side. His assessment of the morning count was that Netanyahu had not yet won, but the Change Bloc had “clearly lost.”
He described Ofer Winter’s approximately 1.7% as far from the threshold and argued that the result had nothing to do with any Netanyahu campaign.
In Beit She’an, reported results gave Likud 52.27% and Yisrael Beiteinu 2.36%. Before the election, Rafi Ben Shitrit, No. 2 on Yisrael Beiteinu’s list, had declared there was absolutely no chance Netanyahu would dare set foot in his hometown.
Government formation and parliamentary control
Netanyahu’s outgoing government remains in office until a successor is formed. President Herzog urged parties to approach consultations with an open mind and make every effort to avoid another election.
The Change Bloc was discussing replacing the Knesset speaker, potentially at the swearing-in ceremony. No candidate had been agreed upon; Oded Forer and Elazar Stern were among the names raised.
The Joint List chairman said:
“We are prepared to pave the way for the ouster of Netanyahu’s government.”
Segal assessed that securing the speakership could give the opposition temporary control of parliament and enable limited legislation.
He warned of possible new elections under difficult circumstances and a political cost for parliamentary cooperation with the Joint List. Agreement on a candidate was another obstacle; he described Stern as unpopular with Lapid and Lieberman.
Voter-bribery allegations
MK Kroizer and Otzma Yehudit urgently asked Solberg and Zini to investigate allegations that Ra’am, or individuals acting on its behalf, paid bribes to voters on a large scale. These were allegations raised in their request.
