Likud gains a seat; Ra’am rises to eight
With approximately 100.0% of votes counted, the results updated on October 29 at 7:09:19 PM put Likud at 27 seats, Yashar at 21, Beyachad (Together) at 12 and the Joint List at 11. The update includes 18,479 additional votes and states that counting of regular votes has concluded.
The Democrats and Ra’am each have eight seats. Yisrael Beiteinu, Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) and United Torah Judaism each have seven, followed by Shas and Religious Zionism and Zehut with six each.
Likud gained one seat at Shas’s expense, bringing Shas to six seats for the first time since 1992. Ra’am rose to eight seats, while the Joint List lost one.
The bloc breakdown stands at 53 seats for the current coalition and 48 for the Change Bloc, with the Joint List’s 11 seats and Ra’am’s eight counted separately.
The Reservists and the Economic Party, with 2.72%, and Amcha Yisrael, with 1.68%, remain below the electoral threshold.
Double-envelope vote breakdown
In the reported double-envelope results, מחל leads with 73,130 ballots (18.64%), followed by דרך with 58,729 (14.97%) and רק with 52,422 (13.36%). Together, the three received 46.97% of the reported double-envelope total.
Next are ט with 38,485 ballots (9.81%); ב with 31,513 (8.03%); אמת with 23,471 (5.98%); and ל with 22,697 (5.79%).
They are followed by שס with 19,160 ballots (4.88%); ג with 16,276 (4.15%); ודם with 12,420 (3.17%); and עם with 10,689 (2.73%).
Together, these 11 lists received 358,992 ballots, accounting for 91.51% of the reported double-envelope total. Reports differ on whether double-envelope counting has finished or is in its final stages.
Flooding forces military ballot airlift
Dozens of military ballot boxes were airlifted from southern army bases to the Knesset in Jerusalem on Tuesday night after flooding closed roads in the Eilat and Arava region. Heavy rain during Tuesday’s election also cut off the main entrance to Eilat.
The military said an Israeli Air Force helicopter transported the boxes.
“The special transport operation was intended to ensure the ballot boxes reached the Knesset on time for the Central Elections Committee to count the votes,” it said.
Government talks and calls for unity
After meeting with Mansour Abbas earlier in the day, Yair Golan held separate meetings with Lapid and Eisenkot.
Eisenkot and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, chairman of Beyachad, met on Thursday evening at Bennett’s home in Ra’anana. They discussed how to move forward with forming a good government in Israel as quickly as possible.
Likud member Haim Bibas, chairman of the Federation of Local Authorities, issued a joint statement with Shay Hajaj, chairman of the Federation of Regional Councils, calling on party leaders to form a unity government:
“It’s time for a unity government — the public has had enough of repeated rounds of elections.”
Gallant also called for the formation of a unity government.
Ben-Gvir attacks police commissioner over Geha scenes
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir accused the police commissioner of changing his approach following the elections:
“For the past several days, the Police Commissioner has been acting like someone trying to please the next government, believing he can win favor with Yair Golan. The outrageous scenes at the Geha Interchange are part of Levy’s new agenda of cozying up to leftists. It is regrettable that Levy, who did everything asked of him for a year and a half, is now, the day after the elections, acting unlawfully against the ultra-Orthodox community and turning them into his punching bag.”
