JERUSALEM (The Thursday Times) — Benjamin Netanyahu’s camp led the opposition by 57 seats to 47 with about 42 per cent of ballots counted in Israel’s election on Wednesday morning, but the gap has been narrowing with every update and officials warned the final result may not be known until Friday.
Partial figures from the Central Elections Committee, published at around 6am Israel time with 41.9 per cent of ballot boxes counted, gave the pro-Netanyahu bloc 57 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, the anti-Netanyahu bloc 47 and the Arab-led Joint List and Ra’am 16 between them, the Times of Israel reported. Neither side is at the 61 needed to govern. At a quarter of the count, Netanyahu’s bloc had been on 63; by a third it was 59. “The figures at this stage are partial and may change as counting and verification continue,” the committee said.
The parties
On the same partial count, according to Ynet, Likud had 28 seats and Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar 21. The Joint List had 12, Naftali Bennett’s list 11, United Torah Judaism and Yisrael Beytenu eight each, and the Democrats, Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit and Shas seven each, with Ra’am on four.
The overnight exit polls had painted a tighter picture. Channel 12’s updated projection gave Netanyahu’s bloc 52 to the opposition’s 49, while Kan and Channel 13 had the two camps tied at 51. Netanyahu has already claimed a “decisive majority” for the right, while Eisenkot told supporters “the old era is over”.
Why it could take until Friday
More than 650,000 double-envelope ballots – cast by soldiers, diplomats, hospital patients and people voting away from home – are counted separately at the committee in the days after polling and can move seats between lists. Small parties hovering around the 3.25 per cent threshold, including Amcha Yisrael, the Reservists-Economic Party and Haredi Public, could also reshape the totals if they cross it or fall short. Turnout was 77.7 per cent, the highest since 1999.
Once the count is certified, President Isaac Herzog will consult every party in the new Knesset and task the leader he judges most likely to build a 61-seat coalition, who will have weeks to try. If nobody succeeds, Israel could face yet another election, with Netanyahu staying on as caretaker in the meantime. Read our explainer on what happens next.
How the region is watching
Iran’s foreign ministry said before the vote that the outcome would make “no difference”, while US President Donald Trump broke with precedent by openly urging Israelis to back Netanyahu. Pakistan, which does not recognise Israel, has not commented; people on Pakistan’s streets told TT they wanted Netanyahu gone. Arab-led parties, meanwhile, are on course for one of their strongest showings, and Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas has said no government can be formed without accounting for them.
More on Israel’s election: Who is Gadi Eisenkot? · Netanyahu accuses Arab citizens of ‘stealing’ the vote · The first exit polls · Likud calls opposition joy ‘premature’ · Lieberman urges Likud to oust Netanyahu · Netanyahu races to stop defections · Israelis turn out in record numbers
