# Israel Election: Slender Lead For Benjamin Netanyahu Means He Could Be Asked To Form Next Government

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/israel-election-slender-lead-for-benjamin-netanyahu-means-he-could-be-asked-to-form-next-government/
- Published: 2026-10-28T09:10:55+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T05:51:41+00:00
- Original publisher: Deadline
- Original article: https://deadline.com/2026/10/israel-election-netanyahu-eisenkot-exit-poll-close-1237206893/
- Topics: Americas, Art, Culture, Elections, Government, Middle East, Politics, World

## Key points

- No bloc has secured a governing majority.
- Arab parties could influence coalition talks.
- Absentee ballots and negotiations remain pivotal.

## Summary

Israel’s election appears to have left no bloc with enough seats to govern alone, putting the country’s next government in doubt. Although early projections gave Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc a narrow lead, later counts showed opposition parties ahead, making coalition negotiations and the role of Arab parties central to the outcome.

With about 85% of votes counted, opposition parties had 67 seats, including 19 for Arab parties, while Netanyahu’s coalition had 53. Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc had 48 seats, including 21 for his Yashar Party; Likud remained the largest single party, with 26. Around 600,000 absentee ballots were still to be counted, and turnout reached 77.7%, the highest since 1999. Any candidate asked by President Isaac Herzog to form a government would have 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, to assemble a coalition.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.