Netanyahu Bloc Holds 53 Seats After Vote

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political camp secured 53 seats in the Knesset, according to data released by the Central Elections Committee on Wednesday morning. The count followed the tallying of nearly five million votes in the 2026 elections. His party, Likud, is projected to hold 26 of those seats.

The remaining seats in Netanyahu’s bloc are distributed among his coalition partners. United Torah Judaism, Shas, and Otzma Yehudit are each expected to enter with seven seats. The Religious Zionist Party is projected to take six seats. This group falls short of the 61 seats required for an absolute majority.

The opposition bloc is projected to secure 48 seats. Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party leads this group with 21 seats. B’Yachad, a joint list led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, is expected to hold 12 seats. Yair Golan’s Democrats are projected to win eight seats, while Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu will take seven.

Arab parties will hold 19 seats in the next Knesset. The Joint List is projected to win 12 seats, and Ra’am is expected to secure seven. These numbers place the opposition bloc at 65 seats if it includes the Arab parties, a total that exceeds the 55-seat threshold some leaders cite for governing capacity.

Yair Golan, chairman of the Democrats, argued that the opposition has a clear mandate to govern. He stated that the opposition bloc reached 65 seats when Arab parties are included. "Netanyahu lost. I know how to count to 120. Sixty-five is more than 55. That's how Israeli democracy works. Period," Golan wrote on Wednesday. He called for a government of change that partners with Israel's Arab citizens.

Coalition negotiations face immediate challenges. Eisenkot has rejected serving under Netanyahu, including in a rotation arrangement. He has suggested the leader of the largest opposition party should become the candidate for prime minister, but no agreement on this structure has been announced. A minority government relying on Arab party support remains a possibility, though internal opposition to such an arrangement could complicate the process.

Yousef Jabareen, chairman of the Joint List, said his party was ready to help remove the Netanyahu government. "The change comes through Jewish-Arab partnership, a true and equal partnership. No less than that, and no more than that," Jabareen posted on social media. MK Ahmad Tibi told Army Radio that the opposition could form a government if it had the courage to do so.