Netanyahu’s bloc leads after a late comeback, but Israel’s election has no clear winner. With 54 seats projected against the opposition’s 49 and Arab parties holding 17, the fight to form a government is just beginning.

Israel Election 2026: Netanyahu's bloc leads opposition 56-49; Trump credits his endorsement of Bibi

Anti-Netanyahu bloc vows not to let the chance to replace govt slip away.@BislaDiksha has more with Prof. James A. Russell, emeritus professor at the Naval Postgraduate School. pic.twitter.com/qeLggvUavp

— WION (@WIONews) October 28, 2026

Breaking: Exit polls in Israel are now being revised, giving Netanyahu’s bloc more seats than initially projected (Channel 13; others may follow). Historically, Israeli exit polls have tended to underestimate Likud, but shifts between blocs are usually limited to 2–3 seats at…

— נדב איל Nadav Eyal (@Nadav_Eyal) October 27, 2026

Update:
Vote counting halted temporarily following the processing of 93% of ordinary ballot boxes (representing 85.6% of total votes cast), leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition short of a majority at 53 seats. The Central Elections Committee confirmed that Gadi Eisenkot’s Zionist opposition bloc holds 48 seats, while Arab-led slates reached a historic high of 19 seats. Around 600,000 double-envelope ballots from military personnel and diplomats remain uncounted, which election officials expect to tally over the next two days. The parliamentary stalemate mirrors previous multi-election deadlocks across the country. In April 2019, Israeli national elections ended in a virtual tie between Netanyahu’s Likud and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party, triggering a two-year period of snap elections and repeated coalition failures.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/with-over-85-of-votes-counted-pro-netanyahu-bloc-gets-53-seats-eisenkot-led-bloc-at-48-and-arab-parties-have-19/
https://www.thepetek.com/results
https://www.jpost.com/israel-election-2026/2026-10-28/live-updates-913081