JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc held steady at 54 seats, while the opposition Change bloc fell to 47, according to Channel 12, with around 70 percent of votes counted in Israel’s pivotal general election.
Netanyahu’s Likud party stood at 27 seats, while the Yashar party of his main rival, centrist former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, fell by one seat to 20. The Joint List, an alliance of Arab-led parties, rose to 13 seats, with more than 4 million votes counted.
The updated figures suggest that neither bloc has secured a parliamentary majority, with 61 seats needed to control the 120-member Knesset. The results leave coalition negotiations likely to be difficult, with the role of Arab-led parties potentially crucial to the formation of a government.
The election has been closely watched amid public discontent with Netanyahu’s far-right government and a political landscape marked by repeated electoral deadlock. Exit polls had suggested there was no clear winner, raising the prospect of weeks of negotiations before a government can be formed.
Netanyahu has called for a strong right-wing government and ruled out cooperation with Arab parties, which he has described as anti-Zionist. Eisenkot, meanwhile, has expressed conditional openness to working with Arab-led parties, although such an arrangement remains politically sensitive.
The latest figures also showed Otzma Yehudit, led by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, at seven seats. Other parties included Together with 11 seats, The Democrats and Yisrael Beiteinu with eight each, United Torah Judaism and Shas with seven each, and Ra’am, Religious Zionism and Identity with six each.
With counting still underway, the final distribution of seats could change. The results will determine whether Netanyahu can assemble a governing coalition or whether rival parties can secure the support needed to form an alternative government.
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