Israel's 26th Knesset election: full count with no decisive result amid Likud accusations against Arab parties

⏱️ Timeline

1. 27 Oct 2026, 11:03 Israeli media reported that turnout in the Knesset election reached 16.68% as of 10:00 a.m.
2. 27 Oct 2026, 11:38 Israel's Channel 7 reported that election turnout stood at 9.3% in Tel Aviv, 9% in Jerusalem, 8.7% in Haifa and 9.5% in Beersheba.
3. 27 Oct 2026, 11:47 The Israeli army announced that soldiers' voting in the Knesset election reached 30% as of 10:00 a.m., compared with 25.7% at the same time in the 25th Knesset election.
4. 27 Oct 2026, 13:19 Israel's Channel 12 reported that 2.39 million eligible voters had cast ballots in the Knesset election by that point.
5. 27 Oct 2026, 14:28 The Israeli army announced that soldiers' voting in the Knesset election had reached 48% by that point.
6. 27 Oct 2026, 17:15 Israeli media reported that turnout was up 8% compared with the previous election.
7. 27 Oct 2026, 18:36 A Hebrew page, and later the Israeli army, reported that turnout within the Israeli military reached 68% of all personnel by 5:00 p.m., compared with 65% at the same time in the 25th Knesset election.
8. 27 Oct 2026, 19:38 The Israeli elections committee rejected Likud's request to extend voting hours, and Israeli reports said polling stations would close at exactly 22:00.
9. 28 Oct 2026, 10:12 Yedioth Ahronoth quoted the Israeli army as saying that about 80% of serving personnel had voted, an increase of roughly 6.2% compared with the previous election.
10. 28 Oct 2026, 21:07 Likud, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, accused the Arab parties of 'stealing the election' and demanded that the police, the Shin Bet and the Central Elections Committee open an investigation into allegations of bribery, intimidation and fraud, after Arab party representation rose to 19 seats in partial results against 10 in the outgoing parliament. The elections committee did not establish systematic fraud, and police announced the arrest of three people from two Bedouin towns; the committee had begun that same day examining Likud's claims of fraud in favour of the Arab parties.
11. 29 Oct 2026, 08:17 The Israeli elections committee announced that there is no evidence of any fraud in the votes, and later affirmed that the Knesset election was conducted in accordance with the law and that claims of systematic harm to its integrity have no basis.
12. 29 Oct 2026, 10:34 The Hebrew page of Nadav Elimalich published a Likud statement describing the 'United JEST' case as an 'earthquake', accusing foreign entities of interference and bribing voters in favour of the Arab parties based on remarks by Judge Solberg, and demanding that the Shin Bet and police investigate these crimes immediately.
13. 29 Oct 2026, 11:20 The Israeli elections committee announced that Netanyahu's camp won 53 seats while the opposition won 48, after 94.4% of votes had been counted.
14. 29 Oct 2026, 15:16 The Joint Arab List accused Likud of trying to circumvent the election results through incitement and by delegitimising Arab political representation.
15. 29 Oct 2026, 19:48 Results after 100% of votes were counted showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition winning 53 seats against 48 for the opposition, without settling the identity of the next government.

How the sources covered it

📰 All coverage