Israel Completes Vote Count With Neither Main Bloc Securing a Majority

All ballots have been counted. Netanyahu's bloc has 53 seats, Eisenkot's bloc 48 and the Arab parties 19, leaving both main camps short of the 61 seats needed for a majority.

Israel has completed its election count, and neither Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc nor the bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot has a majority in the 120 seat Knesset. The Central Elections Committee will publish the official final results on November 4.

With all votes counted and the surplus vote agreements between lists applied, Netanyahu's bloc has 53 seats, Eisenkot's bloc 48 and the Arab parties 19.

More Than 5.7 Million Ballots Cast

The count lists 5,704,141 votes cast, of which 5,678,352 were valid and 25,789 invalid.

Netanyahu's camp received 44.15% of the valid votes, Eisenkot's camp 40.49% and the Arab parties 14.75%. That puts Netanyahu's bloc 3.66 percentage points ahead.

Seats by Party

Likud is the largest party with 27 seats, followed by Eisenkot's Yashar with 21 and Naftali Bennett's Together with 12. The Joint List has 11 seats, and the Democrats and Ra'am have 8 each.

Yisrael Beytenu, Otzma Yehudit and United Torah Judaism won 7 seats each. Shas and Religious Zionism and Zehut have 6 each, Shas's lowest total since 1992.

Two lists fell below the 3.25% threshold: Reservists and Economy with 2.72% of the vote and Amcha Yisrael with 1.68%.

Surplus Agreements Decided the Last Seat

Knesset seats go only to lists that pass the 3.25% threshold and are divided by the Bader Ofer method. Five pairs of lists signed surplus vote agreements: Together and Yisrael Beytenu, Yashar and the Democrats, the Joint List and Ra'am, Likud and Religious Zionism, and Shas and United Torah Judaism.

The agreements decided the 120th seat. Without them it would go to Shas, leaving the Arab parties with 18 seats. With them it goes to Ra'am, giving the Arab parties 19.

The Majority Still Has to Be Built

Netanyahu's bloc is eight seats short of the 61 needed for a majority, and Eisenkot's bloc is 13 short.

The 19 seats of the Arab parties weigh heavily in that arithmetic. Both main camps need support beyond their own blocs to form a government.