Jerusalem:Israel's Central Elections Committee has finalized the vote count for the recent parliamentary elections, confirming that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc has secured 53 seats. Meanwhile, opposition parties obtained 48 seats, and Arab parties garnered 19 seats.
According to Anadolu Agency – English, the committee completed the counting of special ballots, referred to as double envelopes, but the final results are still pending release. The results have been compiled from 12,644 polling stations, with a total of 5,589,836 votes counted, including 5,564,764 valid votes and 25,072 invalid votes.
The special ballots accounted for votes from soldiers, prisoners, diplomats, and hospitalized voters who were unable to vote at their regular polling stations. While the overall distribution of seats among the political groupings remained unchanged from Wednesday's results, individual parties experienced shifts due to the special ballots. Netanyahu's Likud party increased from 26 to 27 seats, but the ultra-Orthodox Shas party decreased from seven to six seats. Among Arab parties, Ra'am gained a seat, reaching eight seats, while the Joint List lost one, totaling 11 seats.
Netanyahu's bloc consists of his Likud party, along with allied far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties. The opposition bloc is led by former Israeli Army Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and includes parties such as Yashar, Together, Yesh Atid, Democrats, and Yisrael Beiteinu. The Arab parties, the Joint List and the United Arab List (Ra'am), together secured 19 seats, potentially placing them in a crucial position for government formation negotiations.
Neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the opposition achieved the 61 seats necessary for a majority in the 120-member Knesset. Voter turnout reached 77.7%, marking the highest since 1999 and a 7.1 percentage point increase from the 2022 elections.
The official election results are expected to be announced on November 4. Subsequently, President Isaac Herzog will consult with parliamentary factions before appointing a lawmaker to form the next government, with the new Knesset anticipated to be sworn in on November 10.