Israeli Election Results Set to Confirm Hung Parliament

Ordinary Israelis face a period of political uncertainty as final election results are set to confirm a hung parliament in the 120-seat Knesset. The outcome leaves no single faction with the 61 seats required to form a government, forcing leaders into complex negotiations to determine who will rule next.

Local media projections indicate that Binyamin Netanyahu’s bloc will secure 53 seats. Opposition parties are expected to hold 48 seats, while Arab-led parties, who also campaigned against Netanyahu, will command 19 seats. These numbers leave a gap of five seats that must be filled through coalition building before a new government can be established.

Netanyahu remains in charge during this interim period. Final results were expected to arrive by Thursday evening after the counting of approximately 500,000 absentee ballots. These votes come from military personnel, diplomats, prisoners, and patients in hospitals. Officials do not expect this late count to change the overall seat distribution dramatically.

The central question for voters now is whether Jewish and Arab parties will form a historic alliance or if some anti-Netanyahu groups will join the prime minister’s camp. Gadi Eisenkot, the chief rival and former military chief, stated he is open to working with Arab-led parties to reach the necessary majority. He did not explicitly mention joining forces with them in his first public address since speaking to supporters on Wednesday.

The Joint List, one of the major Arab parties, declared itself open to political cooperation. The party described the election results as an unprecedented show of strength, noting that many Arab citizens broke long-standing vows to abstain from voting in a country where they have faced discrimination. Small rallies took place overnight in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in support of such a coalition. No Arab party had joined a government since a brief alliance in 2021.

Netanyahu’s Likud party, despite winning the most votes, accused Arab-led parties of stealing the election. The party asked the election committee to investigate these claims but did not provide specific evidence. The committee stated that the number of reported irregularities in the relatively calm election was low.

President Yitzhak Hertzog will task a leader with forming the government next week. While tradition favors the leader of the largest party, this is not a legal requirement. Hertzog signaled on Wednesday that he wants to avoid a repeat election, a position shared by Eisenkot. A new vote would occur if multiple attempts to form a government fail, a scenario that would likely happen early next year.

The election took place against a backdrop of deep societal divisions. Key issues included whether the growing ultra-Orthodox population should retain an exemption from compulsory military service. Many families have lost children in three years of inconclusive wars, making this exemption a source of significant tension. Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, faces corruption allegations and accusations that he delayed hostage deals for political gain.

International standing also played a role, with widespread criticism over the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and rising violence by Jewish settlers in the West Bank. For Arab citizens, who make up 20 percent of the population, the election brought cautious hope. Brosli Elias, a resident of Nazareth, expressed the sentiment that the government should bring their rights into the fold.

External pressures add to the internal instability. The threat of further strikes against Iran looms as the Trump administration has discussed new attacks after the U.S. midterm elections on November 3. Experts suggest Netanyahu could use a renewed conflict to push for a unity government under his leadership. This strategy could delay a public inquiry into the security failures that led to the Hamas-led assault on October 7, 2023.