Israeli Knesset election: no decisive majority and Netanyahu short of 61 seats

⏱️ Timeline

1. 27 Oct 2026, 22:02 Polls published by Israel's Channel 12 showed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party could win 24 of the Knesset's 120 seats while Gadi Eisenkot could win 21, with a voter survey indicating no clear winner in the election.
2. 27 Oct 2026, 22:09 Israel's Channel 12 reported that the Eisenkot camp leads with 52 seats against 50 for the Netanyahu camp, while Arab parties got 18 seats. Channel 12 and Channel 13 were later cited as showing the Eisenkot camp at 52 to 53 seats against 50 for the Netanyahu camp, with the Joint List at 10 to 11 seats and the United List at 7 seats.
3. 27 Oct 2026, 22:11 A poll by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority showed the Eisenkot camp getting 53 seats, against 50 for the Netanyahu camp and 17 for Arab parties.
4. 27 Oct 2026, 22:13 Israel's Channel 12, citing an expanded poll, reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp remains far from achieving a 61-seat majority in the Knesset, the number needed to form a government or pass decisive decisions.
5. 27 Oct 2026, 22:19 Israel's Channel 12, citing estimates, said the preliminary results allow President Isaac Herzog to task Gadi Eisenkot, head of the 'Yeshar' party, with forming the next government, while the newspaper Maariv reported growing estimates that Eisenkot will be the first to receive a mandate to form a government from the head of state.
6. 27 Oct 2026, 22:40 Israel's Channel 14, which is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reported that the right camp got 60 seats, the left 43 and Arab parties 17.
7. 27 Oct 2026, 22:40 The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that the preliminary results confirm that Benjamin Netanyahu is the biggest loser.
8. 27 Oct 2026, 22:58 Polling stations closed on Tuesday night in Israel's Knesset election, and exit polls showed a slight lead for the opposition camp led by Gadi Eisenkot over the coalition of outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with neither side reaching the 61-seat threshold needed to form a government. Israeli channels 11, 12 and 13 indicated that the Eisenkot camp could get 52 to 53 seats against about 50 for the Netanyahu camp.
9. 28 Oct 2026, 06:11 Reports said the vote-counting process in Israel overturned the political equation, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approaching 61 seats while Gadi Eisenkot refuses to give up or acknowledge the result.
10. 28 Oct 2026, 07:45 Channel 12 reported that the Netanyahu camp got 55 seats, the Eisenkot camp 50 and Arab lists 15 after 48% of votes were counted. Shortly after, the same channel reported that the Netanyahu camp got 56 seats against 49 for the Eisenkot camp, with counting continuing.
11. 28 Oct 2026, 09:30 Israel's Channel 13 reported that after 59.9% of votes were counted, the Netanyahu camp got 56 seats, the Eisenkot camp 48 and Arab parties 16.
12. 28 Oct 2026, 14:43 The Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom reported that all votes had been counted except the double ballots, indicating that Netanyahu got 53 seats and Eisenkot 48.
13. 28 Oct 2026, 18:14 With 85.6% of votes counted, equivalent to 4,875,751 ballots, Likud led with 26 seats, followed by the 'Yeshar!' party led by Gadi Eisenkot with 21 and the 'Ma'an' party with 12. Benjamin Netanyahu's camp got only 53 seats against 48 for the Eisenkot camp, while Arab parties' share reached 17 seats (11 for the Joint List and 6 for the 'Ra'am' list).
14. 28 Oct 2026, 19:19 Israeli opposition parties announced the start of the post-Netanyahu battle after sample results from the 'Kan' broadcasting authority showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp slipping to about 50 seats, against 52 for Gadi Eisenkot's camp and 18 for Arab parties. Opposition leaders demanded the immediate formation of an alternative government, while right-wing officials warned against cooperation with Arab parties, and a Likud official said the results were better than expected.
15. 29 Oct 2026, 08:00 The Israeli election results showed that no side obtained a decisive majority in the Knesset, meaning Benjamin Netanyahu does not have enough seats to form a government, leaving the political arena to a phase of negotiations and coalition arrangements.

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