Israel Election 2026 Results: Arab Parties Win 19 Seats

Likud alleges the vote was “stolen” and demands a police and Shin Bet probe. No evidence has been made public.

Jerusalem, October 29, 2026: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc has failed to win a Knesset majority in Israel’s 2026 general election. Arab-led parties have emerged as potential kingmakers, and Netanyahu’s Likud is now alleging election fraud.

Israel election results 2026: where the seats stand

With about 90% of ballots counted, Netanyahu’s bloc was on course for 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, eight short of the 61 needed for a majority. Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc was on 48, 13 short.

With roughly 98% of ballots tallied, the party breakdown is:

Likud: 26 seats, the largest single party
Yashar (Eisenkot): 21 seats
Netanyahu’s partners: United Torah Judaism, Shas and Otzma Yehudit with seven seats each, and Religious Zionism with six
Arab parties: Joint List with 12 seats and Ra’am with seven, a combined 19 and a record for Arab-led parties, driven by high turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel

Late-counted double-envelope ballots could still shift individual seats, though they are unlikely to change the balance of power.

Arab parties emerge as kingmakers

Counting the Arab parties, the opposition totals around 67 seats against 53 for the Netanyahu bloc. Democrats chair Yair Golan has said Netanyahu lost the election and that the opposition has a majority.

Forming a government that relies on Arab-party support is not simple. Some figures inside Eisenkot’s bloc oppose depending on those votes. Eisenkot has also ruled out serving under Netanyahu, including in a rotation deal, so a unity government looks unlikely and a repeat election is possible. The Arab-led parties have said they will not join a coalition with Netanyahu.

Likud’s fraud allegations

On Wednesday, Likud accused Arab parties of stealing the election through bribery, intimidation, violence and forgery. Netanyahu shared the statement on X. The party demanded an immediate investigation by police and the Shin Bet, and said it was passing hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence to law enforcement.

Likud pointed to the arrest on Tuesday of three men from Bedouin communities in southern Israel on suspicion of trying to bribe voters to back Ra’am. Ra’am has called the accusation a lie meant to boost right-wing turnout.

The Central Elections Committee says it is reviewing all fraud allegations from every party as part of its standard election-integrity process.

Critics note that Likud had reportedly begun preparing to contest results from Arab towns before polls even closed. Netanyahu made similar claims after the 2019 elections, when a police investigation found only minimal tampering, and the abuse it did find benefited Likud and Shas. Arab civil-society groups reject the latest claims and say Arab voters faced obstacles at polling stations on election day.

So far, the allegations have not established that the election was stolen.

What happens next

Final results: The official tally, including double-envelope ballots, will be presented to the president.
Coalition talks: Neither bloc has a clear path to 61 seats.
Fraud probes: Police, the Shin Bet, and the Elections Committee will decide whether any complaints have merit.