Netanyahu Loses His Majority as Arab Parties Win Record 19 Seats, Leaving Israel in Deadlock

By Kaeleb Savon Heck

JERUSALEM, Oct. 30, 2026 — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing bloc has lost its majority in Israel's parliament, final vote counts show, but his main challenger, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, has no clear path to power either. Arab-led parties won a record 19 seats in the 120-member Knesset, leaving them as potential kingmakers in a political system where nearly every Jewish party has ruled out governing with them.

With all votes counted, Netanyahu's bloc holds 53 seats, Eisenkot's opposition bloc holds 48, and Arab-led parties hold 19, according to final figures from Israel's Central Elections Committee reported by Ynet. A government needs 61 seats. That leaves Israel facing weeks of coalition bargaining and a real chance of yet another election.

The results still need to be certified. NBC News reported they are due to be submitted to President Isaac Herzog next Wednesday, after which he will consult party leaders and choose the candidate he believes has the best chance of forming a government.

Why this matters

For the first time in years, the math of Israeli politics does not add up for either side without breaking a campaign promise. Netanyahu is eight seats short. Eisenkot is 13 short and can only reach a majority with Arab-party support, which he pledged not to seek.

The outcome will shape Israel's direction on the war, Gaza and the occupied West Bank, relations with the United States, and the country's domestic divisions. It also comes as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said this week, during a visit to Cyprus, that he is ready for talks with Israel's next government.

The seat-by-seat picture

According to Ynet's breakdown of the final count:

• Likud (Netanyahu): 27
• Yashar! (Eisenkot): 21
• Together (Naftali Bennett): 12
• Joint List: 11
• Ra'am (United Arab List): 8
• The Democrats (Yair Golan): 8
• United Torah Judaism: 7
• Yisrael Beiteinu: 7
• Otzma Yehudit: 7
• Shas: 6
• Religious Zionism and Zehut: 6

Two smaller lists, the Reservists and an economic party, failed to cross the electoral threshold. NBC News noted that Netanyahu's right-wing bloc had controlled as many as 68 seats at its peak in the outgoing parliament.

Historic Arab turnout

The biggest story of election night was the turnout among Arab citizens of Israel, who make up about a fifth of the population and many of whom identify as Palestinian citizens of Israel. The BBC reported that many had boycotted past elections, arguing that voting legitimises a system they say treats them as second-class citizens. This time, an unprecedented turnout was driven by a desire to remove the most right-wing government in Israel's history.

The two Arab-led lists have staked out different positions. Ra'am, led by Mansour Abbas, has said it would join an opposition government. The Joint List has said it would support such a government from outside without formally joining it, according to the BBC.

Fraud claims and backlash

The Associated Press reported that Netanyahu's Likud party on Thursday amplified unsubstantiated allegations that Arab-led parties had "stolen" the election, possibly with foreign help. Euronews reported that Likud alleged interference and fraud, and that Qatar denied interfering in or funding efforts to influence the vote, calling the accusations "ridiculous and dangerous."

Opposition figures accused Netanyahu of demonising Arab citizens to delegitimise the result. In Tel Aviv, protesters took to the streets demanding a government that unites Jewish and Arab parties, and police moved in to disperse activists who blocked traffic, Euronews reported.

Background: how Israeli coalitions work

Israel's parliament is elected by nationwide proportional representation, so no single party has ever won a majority on its own. Every government is a coalition. After results are certified, the president picks a candidate to try to form a government; if that fails, the mandate can pass to another lawmaker, and if no one succeeds, the country returns to the polls.

Only one independent Arab party has ever formally sat in an Israeli coalition — Ra'am, in the short-lived 2021 government led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, the BBC noted. That government collapsed within about a year. Bennett, now leading the Together party, is again a key player in the opposition camp.

Analysis

Eisenkot is in a bind. On Thursday he met Bennett to discuss forming a government "as quickly as possible," and he also met Golan, according to Al Jazeera. But Golan is the only Jewish party leader in the opposition openly calling for a partnership with the Arab-led parties. Golan said on X that the country "must no longer accept Netanyahu's racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes," NBC News reported, and he met separately with Ra'am's Mansour Abbas.

Al Jazeera's correspondent noted that Eisenkot has an uphill battle, because he pledged not to partner with the Arab-led parties, yet his bloc cannot reach a majority without them.

Netanyahu's problem is different but just as hard. He would need to pull defectors from the opposition, and the parties that could help him close an eight-seat gap have campaigned on replacing him. The BBC laid out the realistic options as a Netanyahu government with defectors, an opposition government relying on Arab parties, some kind of unity arrangement, or new elections — and concluded that because forming a government likely requires someone to break a campaign promise, new elections may be the most probable outcome.

Any government built on Arab-party support would also be fragile on the most sensitive issues, the BBC noted, especially policy toward Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Parties on the centre-right of the opposition bloc and the Arab-led lists hold very different views on security, settlements and Palestinian statehood, and a single defection could topple such a coalition.

The fraud narrative matters too. Questioning an election result by targeting a minority community's participation raises the temperature in an already polarised country and could make any coalition that relies on Arab votes harder to sell to Jewish voters.

Why it matters beyond Israel

Israel's next government will make decisions that ripple across the region, from the conduct of military operations to any renewed diplomacy with the Palestinians. Abbas's statement in Cyprus that he is ready for talks with the new government is an early sign that outside actors are already positioning for a possible change of leadership in Jerusalem. Washington, Arab governments and the European Union will all be watching whether Israel ends up with a stable government, a fragile one, or another caretaker period while voters head back to the polls.

What's next

• Certification: Final results are due to be certified and presented to President Herzog next Wednesday.
• Consultations: Herzog will meet party leaders and assign the first mandate to form a government.
• Coalition talks: Watch whether Eisenkot softens his stance on Arab parties, whether Netanyahu attracts defectors, and how Bennett positions himself.
• Arab parties' terms: Ra'am and the Joint List will set conditions for any support, likely including funding and civil-rights priorities for Arab communities.
• Another election: If no one can form a government, Israel could head back to the polls, extending years of political instability.

Sources

• Ynet News, "All Votes Counted: Netanyahu Bloc With 53, Eisenkot 48, Arab Parties - 19": https://www.ynetnews.com/article/lzkcj5xqa
• AP News, "Israeli election results confirm Netanyahu lost his majority": https://apnews.com/article/israel-elections-netanyahu-eisenkot-arab-results-9a0620a1314fdc127245ba1a7f0aa762
• NBC News, "Israel's final election results show neither Netanyahu nor rival can immediately form government": https://www.nbcnews.com/world/israel/israels-final-election-results-show-neither-netanyahu-rival-can-immedi-rcna606290
• Al Jazeera, "Israel election result shows no overall majority as vote count complete," Oct. 29, 2026: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/29/israel-election-result-shows-no-overall-majority-as-vote-count-complete
• BBC News, "How could Israel break political deadlock? Here are four scenarios": https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm62y46d97wwo
• Euronews, news archive for Oct. 29, 2026: https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/29