JERUSALEM, Oct. 28, 2026 —

Vote counting continued Wednesday after Israel's Oct. 27 general election for the 120-seat Knesset, the country's parliament. A party or group of parties needs 61 seats to hold a majority.

Launchpad Digital couldn't reach the Central Elections Committee's official results website on Wednesday morning, so the figures below are partial counts as reported by news outlets. They are not final and will change as counting continues.

What the partial counts show

According to partial results reported by The Times of Israel, which cites figures published by the Central Elections Committee, with 84.5% of ballot boxes counted as of 12:34 p.m. Israel time (6:34 a.m. ET):

  • the bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had 54 seats
  • the bloc led by Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot had 49 seats
  • the Arab-led parties, the Joint List and Ra'am, had a combined 17 seats

The Times of Israel reported that three parties were below the 3.25% vote threshold needed to enter the Knesset at that point: Reservists (2.7%), People of Israel (1.6%) and Charedi Public (0.2%). It also reported turnout of 77.7% at the close of polls, up from 70.6% in 2022.

According to partial results reported by the Israeli news site Ynet, with 77.6% of votes counted, the Netanyahu bloc had 54 seats, the Eisenkot-led bloc 49 and the Arab parties 17. Those bloc totals match the Times of Israel's later figures, though the two outlets' counts were taken at different points.

Earlier counts differed. The Times of Israel reported that at 76.8% counted, the blocs stood at 54 and 47, with the Arab-led parties at 19. Middle East Eye reported early Wednesday, from a smaller share of the count, that the Netanyahu bloc had 59 seats and the opposing bloc 46. The shifts show how much the numbers have moved as more ballots are counted.

Votes still to be counted

The Times of Israel reported that so-called double-envelope ballots, cast mainly by soldiers but also by prisoners, medical staff, hospital patients and Israeli diplomats abroad, are counted later and may not be fully tallied until Friday. It said the Central Elections Committee estimates there are about 600,000 such ballots, and that each Knesset seat represents roughly 40,000 votes.

What leaders have said

According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu said on election night that he plans to form a "strong, national, right-wing government," and Eisenkot said he will "do my utmost to form a Zionist government" and called on Netanyahu to step down. Joint List chairman Yousef Jabareen told Israel's Channel 13 that anyone seeking to replace the current government "will have to talk to us," the outlet reported.

Official results will be published by the Central Elections Committee after the count is complete. Launchpad Digital will update this story when official figures are available.

Those are the facts as reported so far.

Sources: Partial, unofficial counts reported by The Times of Israel, Ynet and Middle East Eye, Oct. 28, 2026. The Central Elections Committee's results site couldn't be reached at publication time.

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