Israel Election Tally Shows No Winner as Netanyahu Leads Eisenkot

Israel’s parliamentary election produced no clear victor as of Wednesday morning, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a narrow lead over his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, despite the opposition holding a larger aggregate vote count. The tight race has triggered a period of political uncertainty in the 120-seat Knesset, where a governing majority of 61 lawmakers is required to form a government.

Netanyahu, who has served as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister across multiple tenures, addressed supporters in Jerusalem on Tuesday night. He declared that his right-wing bloc secured a decisive majority among the Zionist public. Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff, countered with a different assessment, telling his base that the public had voted for change and that his center-right movement made history.

The opposition’s strength lies in its total vote share, which surpassed that of Netanyahu’s right-wing alliance. This margin was bolstered by strong performance from two Arab-led parties: the socially conservative United Arab List, known as Raam, and the left-wing Joint List. Arab voters constitute approximately 20% of the population, positioning these parties as potential kingmakers. However, both Netanyahu and Eisenkot have historically resisted forming coalitions with Arab-led factions, complicating the path to a majority.

Voter engagement reached a twenty-year high, with turnout exceeding 77%. Tens of thousands of expatriates returned to Israel to cast ballots in the first election following the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. That event killed nearly 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken to Gaza. The subsequent military campaign has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and has strained Israel’s international relations.

The election campaign highlighted deep divisions over the war and foreign policy. Netanyahu’s supporters pointed to restored security in the region, while critics questioned his leadership after repeated warnings of the Hamas assault. A July 2025 poll indicated that 67% of Israelis were not significantly troubled by the suffering in Gaza, a sentiment that contrasts with the plummeting support for Israel in the United States. At his campaign event, Netanyahu’s team played videos featuring President Trump endorsing the Prime Minister and urging voters to help him finish the job against Iran.

Election officials expect to complete the count, including ballots from hundreds of thousands of soldiers, by Thursday afternoon. The leading candidate will then have six weeks to negotiate a governing coalition. If no group secures the necessary 61 seats, Netanyahu will remain as caretaker prime minister, and a new election will be scheduled for next year. Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party within Eisenkot’s bloc, has called for partnering with Arab parties, arguing that the opposition must overcome mistrust to build a stable government.