Israel Election Leaves Netanyahu Short of Majority as Coalition Talks Begin

Israel voted on October 27, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing a challenge from Gadi Eisenkot. The final count confirmed that Likud remained the largest party, but Netanyahu's bloc lacked enough seats to form a government, according to nu.nl.

The result split two different measures of success: finishing first and securing the support needed to govern. Neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot emerged with a majority, Arab News reported, leaving both seeking support beyond their existing blocs.

By October 30, final results gave Netanyahu's outgoing right-wing and far-right coalition 53 seats, against 48 for the main opposition bloc led by Eisenkot, according to Franceinfo. The parliament has 120 seats, ICL reported.

The dispute over the vote was already intensifying. Netanyahu and Likud alleged on October 29 that Arab-majority parties had stolen the election with foreign funding amounting to vote-buying, CBS News reported. Police and election officials rejected claims of widespread irregularities, according to Mint.

On October 30, a possible route around the deadlock emerged from Arab parties. Tibi urged Eisenkot to form a minority government, with Arab parties ready to back an Eisenkot-led administration, Middle East Eye reported. That offer did not itself establish that such a government could be assembled.

By October 31, the scale of those parties' gains was clear: they held a record 19 seats, according to Arab News. Their parliamentary strength made them central to coalition talks, even as cooperation remained politically difficult. The October 7, 2023 attacks had made cooperation with Arab parties harder for many Jewish Israelis to accept, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Another possible response surfaced on October 31, when Times of India reported that the anti-Netanyahu bloc was weighing a bill for a direct prime ministerial election. That remained a proposal under consideration, not an agreed solution.

Neither bloc has secured a governing majority. The immediate contest is now about attracting additional parliamentary support, rather than changing which party finished first. CNBC reported that Israel faced weeks of coalition bargaining and an uphill struggle for the opposition to assemble a majority.

A change of prime minister would not necessarily bring a comparable shift in policy. The New York Times reported that Netanyahu and Eisenkot do not differ substantially in their approach to Israel's security or their opposition to a Palestinian state. The coalition arithmetic is unsettled, but those shared positions limit expectations of a major policy break.

The central question is whether Eisenkot can turn Arab parties' willingness to offer support into a workable governing arrangement, or whether Netanyahu can broaden his own bloc. A unity government and fresh elections are among the possible outcomes discussed by News18, not settled next steps.

Watch whether the proposed direct-election bill gains support and whether coalition negotiations produce commitments from parties outside either main bloc. Until then, the final seat count has resolved the election tally without resolving who can govern.