Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious coalition bloc remained ahead of its opponents Thursday morning, according to updated preliminary figures released by Israel’s Central Elections Committee.
Likud had received 1,085,162 votes, representing 20.65%, after ballots from 5,278,597 voters at 12,032 polling stations had been tallied, the committee reported at 9:08 a.m.
Netanyahu’s wider bloc also includes United Torah Judaism, with 293,990 votes (5.59%); Otzma Yehudit, with 292,985 (5.58%); Shas, with 277,689 (5.28%); and Religious Zionism-Zehut, with 250,996 (4.78%). Combined, the parties had 2,200,822 votes, or 41.88% of the total counted.
The opposition camp led by Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar had 849,121 votes, or 16.16%. With B’Yachad at 476,857 votes (9.07%), the Democrats at 340,562 (6.48%) and Yisrael Beiteinu at 311,728 (5.93%), the grouping had collected 1,978,268 votes, or 37.64%.
Based on the partial count, Israeli media projected Netanyahu’s bloc would win 53 Knesset seats, compared with 48 for the opposition and 19 for Arab parties. The projections could still shift as more ballots are counted.
Netanyahu celebrated the early results Wednesday morning, declaring that the vote had confirmed Likud’s status as Israel’s largest party.
“Do you remember how the propaganda channels manipulated public opinion? Likud—18 seats, 19 seats—they knew all along that it was a lie,” Netanyahu said, referring to polling data broadcast by several Israeli news outlets.
“They tried to discourage you, simply discourage you, from going to the polls. That’s what happened here. Well, the first thing that has become unequivocally clear is that Likud is the largest party in Israel. There is no disputing that,” he added.
Netanyahu said the results also demonstrated that the right-wing bloc holds “a clear, overwhelming majority among the Zionist public, among the Jewish public, and among all those who support a Jewish state.”
“And that is why I said, and I say again, that we must establish a strong national right-wing government,” Netanyahu said. “We must not, absolutely must not, put Israel at risk by forming a government that relies on anti-Zionist parties—parties that oppose our very existence.”
Although Netanyahu had not yet secured the 61 seats required to build a governing coalition, the early numbers could place him in the strongest position to receive the first mandate to form Israel’s next government.
After the official results are released on Nov. 4, President Isaac Herzog will consult with the leaders of the parties before choosing the lawmaker he believes has the best chance of forming a coalition.
That person does not necessarily have to lead the largest party, so Netanyahu is not assured of receiving the mandate.
Herzog urged the parties Wednesday to enter the coalition talks with flexibility, emphasizing that Israel must avoid being sent back to the polls.
“We must do everything possible, certainly after yesterday, to avoid another election,” Herzog said during a meeting at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. “I expect everyone who comes here to come with an open mind.”
“I will receive the official results next week from Justice Sohlberg,” Herzog said, referring to Central Elections Committee Chairman Noam Sohlberg. “Afterward, I will begin the consultation process here, hear from each faction, ask questions and hold discussions.”
Israeli law sets out a specific timetable for forming a government. The first candidate selected by Herzog has 28 days to assemble a coalition, with the option of requesting a 14-day extension. If that effort fails, the president may give another candidate 28 days to try.
If the second attempt also breaks down—or Herzog concludes that no government can be formed—a group of at least 61 Knesset members has 21 days to ask him to name another candidate. That lawmaker would then have 14 days to establish a government.
If no coalition emerges, another election would be held roughly 90 days later. Herzog has promised to work toward preventing that result, saying, “I really, truly will do all I can so there won’t be repeat elections.”
The election for the 26th Knesset was Israel’s first nationwide vote since the Hamas-led massacre of Oct. 7, 2023.
