Israel election results: Netanyahu bloc at 56 seats with over 60% of the votes counted

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing and religious bloc stood at 56 projected seats Wednesday morning after 60.2% of votes in Israel's general election had been counted, leaving it five seats short of the 61 required to form a government. The rival bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot held 48 seats, while the predominantly Arab parties had a combined 16, leaving neither main political camp with a parliamentary majority.

According to the Central Elections Committee, 60.2% of votes had been counted, representing approximately 3.4 million voters. Netanyahu's Likud remained the largest party with 28 projected seats, followed by Eisenkot's Yashar! with 21. The Joint List stood at 12 seats and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's Beyachad party at 11. The Democrats, United Torah Judaism and Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu were projected to win eight seats each.

Shas and Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit held seven each, followed by the Religious Zionism-Zehut alliance with six and the Islamist Ra'am party with four. The results continued to shift throughout the morning. Likud and Otzma Yehudit each gained a seat in the latest count at the expense of the Democrats and United Torah Judaism, returning Netanyahu's bloc to 56 seats and reducing Eisenkot's to 48. The Arab parties remained at a combined 16.

Small parties fight to cross the electoral threshold Beyond the battle between the main blocs, several smaller parties were struggling to secure enough votes to enter the next Knesset. Following the count of 60.2% of votes, the Reservists-Economic party led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha was 19,803 votes short of the electoral threshold. Another party, Amcha Israel, led by former military officer Ofer Winter, was 54,888 votes below the threshold, making its chances of entering parliament increasingly remote.

Ra'am, meanwhile, remained above the threshold with four projected seats, holding a margin of approximately 6,000 votes. That figure could change as additional results arrive, particularly from Rahat and Bedouin communities where the party enjoys considerable support. Golan calls for government backed by Arab parties Democrats chairman Yair Golan insisted Wednesday that Netanyahu had lost the election and urged the opposition to form a government with the support of Arab parties.

"Netanyahu lost. I know how to count to 120. Sixty-five is more than 55. That's how Israeli democracy works. Period," Golan wrote on X. Golan criticized what he described as Netanyahu's attempt to distinguish between Jewish and Arab votes, arguing that the opposition should not exclude Arab citizens from the political process. "We have a majority, we have a responsibility, and we have an opportunity to establish a government of change in partnership with Israel's Arab citizens," he wrote.

"Now we need courage. We need leadership. We need to stop being afraid and start acting." Golan declined to speak to reporters waiting outside his home in Rosh HaAyin. Trump seeks to keep Ben-Gvir out of next government, sources say U.S. President Donald Trump is closely monitoring the Israeli election through his aides, according to sources in his circle, who told ynet that the president does not want Netanyahu to include Ben-Gvir, and likely Bezalel Smotrich, in his next government.

According to those sources, Washington views Ben-Gvir's participation as unacceptable, potentially complicating Netanyahu's efforts to preserve his existing right-wing coalition. The development raises the possibility of American pressure to establish a broader unity government, although no such arrangement has been agreed upon. Trump earlier shared a statement on Truth Social attributed to Irving C. Schwartz that credited the president's endorsement of Netanyahu with reversing the political momentum against him.

The partial results showed Netanyahu's bloc ahead of its main rival, but still short of a majority. The shekel weakened as the results emerged, reflecting uncertainty surrounding the country's political future. Military ballots and remaining votes could shift the results The IDF reported that 79.9% of military personnel had exercised their right to vote, an increase of 6.2% compared with the previous Knesset election. More than 890 military polling stations operated across Israel, including mobile stations deployed to military bases, units and combat zones.

Many military ballots are counted under Israel's double-envelope system, which requires additional verification to prevent duplicate voting. Elad Naveh, head of the Central Elections Committee's control center, said more than half a million double-envelope ballots were expected, with counting scheduled to begin around midnight Wednesday and conclude Thursday evening. Naveh cautioned that it was too early to estimate their impact on the parliamentary seat distribution.

Even after the additional votes are counted, the results will remain nearly final rather than fully certified, with further checks scheduled for next week. The committee also clarified that the absence of published results from several cities, including Kfar Saba, Ra'anana, Sakhnin and Kafr Qasim, did not mean ballots had not been counted locally. Instead, results from those polling stations had not yet been fully received and processed by the central committee's systems in Jerusalem.

Eisenkot's early victory speech meets changing results The emerging results cast a different light on speeches delivered by the two main political rivals overnight. Eisenkot addressed supporters shortly after the television exit polls were released, declaring that Israelis had voted for political change and calling on Netanyahu to step down. "We have made history," Eisenkot told supporters. "The public chose change." He accused Netanyahu's coalition of losing the public's confidence, while supporters repeatedly chanted, "The next prime minister!"

Netanyahu, meanwhile, addressed supporters at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, celebrating Likud's emergence as the largest party and calling for cooperation among Israel's Zionist political forces. "The Zionist majority must come to its senses and unite. Only that way can we guarantee Israel's future," Netanyahu said. He also twice thanked his "loyal partners" in the outgoing coalition, signaling his intention to preserve those political relationships.

With neither bloc holding an outright majority, the remaining ballots and negotiations over possible parliamentary alliances will determine whether Netanyahu, Eisenkot or another candidate can assemble the support needed to form Israel's next government.