Netanyahu Bloc Loses Majority as Arab Parties Become Kingmakers

Overview

• Final results published on Friday, Oct. 30 left Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing bloc with 53 Knesset seats, the opposition with 48 and Arab parties with 19, producing a hung parliament without a clear 61-seat majority.
• The 19-seat showing by Arab parties greatly increases their bargaining power because neither the right‑wing bloc nor the Zionist opposition can form a majority without some combination of their votes or abstentions.
• Netanyahu and Likud accused foreign interference and claimed votes were 'stolen' without presenting proof, while election officials rejected evidence of systemic fraud and ordered limited inquiries into specific suspicions.
• Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot faces constrained options that include partnering with Ra’am or other Arab lists, courting ultra‑orthodox parties, forming a unity government with Netanyahu, or failing to form a coalition and leaving Netanyahu as caretaker.
• The next formal steps are certification of results and submission to President Isaac Herzog on Nov. 4, a new Knesset convening on Nov. 10, and Herzog’s designation of a lawmaker to try to form a government with fresh elections possible in early 2027 if talks fail.