Netanyahu's Likud Leads Israel Election With 20.8% of Vote
With 78% turnout and no clear winner, coalition talks hinge on whether centrist challenger Gadi Eisenkot will partner with historic Arab-led parties.
By Layla Richardson ·
Nearly 78% of eligible voters cast ballots in Israel’s general election, marking the highest turnout since 1999. This surge in participation occurred amid a period of national fatigue and political division, leaving the nation without a clear victor as counting neared completion on Wednesday.
With 85% of votes tallied, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party holds 20.8% of the support. His main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, commands 16.1% for his Yashar party. Arab-led parties have secured 14.9% of the vote, a historic performance that complicates the path to a stable government. The official count does not yet assign specific numbers to the 120 seats in the Knesset.
Local media projections suggest neither bloc can independently reach the 61 seats required for a majority. Likud and its allies are projected to hold 53 seats. Yashar and its partners are projected to have 48 seats. The 19 seats held by Arab-led parties may prove decisive in determining who forms the next administration.
Netanyahu seeks to extend his nearly 17-year tenure as the country’s longest-serving prime minister. His party’s share of the vote has declined from 23.4% in 2022. Despite this setback, he has dismissed the idea of partnering with Arab-led parties, which represent 20% of Israel’s population. He warned on Wednesday against a dangerous government that might include them. Eisenkot, conversely, has left the door open to such a partnership under specific conditions, including recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and of Hamas as an extremist group.
President Isaac Herzog, who is tasked with appointing a leader to form a government, stated that he would work to avoid another round of elections. He is not required to task the leader of the party with the most seats. Final results are expected by the end of the week and will include approximately 500,000 absentee ballots from military personnel and diplomats.
The election results reflect voter unease over Netanyahu’s alliance with the far-right and anger over military draft exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox Jewish population. National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a key partner in Netanyahu’s coalition, saw support erode. Many Israelis view him as representing the government’s most hardline stance, having previously taunted Palestinian detainees and described many in Gaza as not even people.
At the headquarters of the United Arab List, the only Arab party to have joined a governing coalition in 2021, the mood was jubilant. Leader Mansour Abbas declared that the party was not on the sidelines. In Tel Aviv, voter Hanna Doukhan noted that Israelis are coming to face the reality that government formation may require Arab participation. In Nazareth, Awni Zoabi thanked God for a possible return to rationality, stating that the Arabic language had become treated as if it were a crime.
If no majority coalition emerges, new elections could be held early next year. Israel held five elections between April 2019 and November 2022 due to similar stalemates. Minority governments are also a possibility, though they require cooperation from outside parties to pass legislation. Eisenkot pledged to form a government and promised a new era of hope in a speech focused on national unity.
