Counting in Israel's 27 October election is now complete, but neither bloc holds the 61 seats needed to govern, leaving coalition talks as the next step.
Counting in Israel's legislative election reached 100% on the morning of 29 October, closing the count for the 27 October vote that elects all 120 members of the Knesset. Turnout was 77.7%, and the count puts Likud, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, first with 26 seats and 20.66% of the vote, followed by Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party with 21 seats and 16.21%.
The remaining seats fall to the Joint List with 12, Naftali Bennett's Together with 12, the Democrats with eight, and Ra'am, Yisrael Beiteinu, United Torah Judaism, Otzma Yehudit and Shas with seven each, plus Religious Zionism-Zehut with six. Adding the parties into their blocs gives Netanyahu's bloc 53 seats, the bloc led by Eisenkot 48, and the Arab parties 19 between them, with 61 required for a majority in the 120-seat chamber.
That arithmetic has barely moved since the partial counts reported through the week, which also put Netanyahu's bloc on 53 and Eisenkot's on 48. The one shift in the completed count is inside the Arab parties' total: the Joint List ends on 12 seats and Ra'am on seven, where an earlier provisional projection at about 91.7% counted had them on 11 and eight. The combined Arab total of 19 is unchanged, so the balance of power is the same as it was in the partial results.
The figures come from the count as reported at 100%, and they are not yet the formally confirmed results: official confirmation is due on 4 November, with the new Knesset due to be sworn in on 10 November. Until a coalition is formed, Netanyahu continues as caretaker prime minister, and the process now moves to President Isaac Herzog consulting party leaders on who should be given the chance to form a government.
The stakes are in the 19 Arab seats and the eight seats separating Netanyahu's bloc from a majority. Neither side can reach 61 without partners it has so far ruled out or resisted, and both Netanyahu and Eisenkot claimed victory on election night before the count settled. If no nominee can assemble a majority within the time allowed, Israel faces either a caretaker government with limited room for major decisions or another election.
The next dated step is the formal publication of results on 4 November, which will confirm whether the completed count stands as reported.