Israel Election Netanyahu’s bloc wins most seats but falls short of majority

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political bloc finished ahead of the opposition in the general election but failed to secure a parliamentary majority, according to final results released on Friday.

Netanyahu’s coalition of right-wing and far-right parties won 53 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. His Likud party remained the largest faction, securing 27 seats.

The opposition bloc, led by centrist Gadi Eisenkot, won 48 seats. Meanwhile, Arab political groupings Raam and the Joint List secured a combined 19 seats, positioning them as potential kingmakers in negotiations over the next government.

Neither major bloc reached the 61-seat threshold required for a parliamentary majority. The fragmented result is expected to trigger difficult coalition talks that could last weeks. If negotiations fail, Israel could face another election.

The final results came amid controversy over allegations by Netanyahu’s camp that Arab-Israeli groups received foreign funding to influence the vote. The claims, which have not been supported by publicly presented evidence, were rejected by the Arab-majority lists and Qatar.

Israel’s domestic security service, Shin Bet, said it was investigating suspected irregularities. However, it stressed that the inquiry was not intended to cast suspicion on an entire community that had voted lawfully.

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The Central Elections Committee also sought to ease concerns. Its acting director general, Dean Livne, described suggestions of widespread electoral problems as entirely groundless.

The controversy focused on allegations that Raam had received money from Qatar to finance vote-buying operations. Qatar, which maintains channels of communication with Hamas, rejected the accusations as “ridiculous and dangerous”.

Likud described the allegations as the “Raamgate scandal” and claimed Israel’s elections had been stolen.

Raam leader Mansour Abbas denied wrongdoing and welcomed an investigation. The Joint List accused Netanyahu and his allies of running a campaign of incitement because of growing Arab political influence.

Opposition figures accused Netanyahu of trying to undermine confidence in the election results after failing to secure a majority.

Left-wing candidate Yair Golan said Netanyahu was attempting to challenge the outcome. Eisenkot also accused Likud and the prime minister of conducting a coordinated campaign to delegitimise the results.

Netanyahu has previously faced allegations involving Qatar following the arrests of two of his aides last year over claims that they received payments from the Gulf state.

The Joint List’s leader, Yousef Jabareen, said his group was willing to cooperate with the opposition to remove Netanyahu from power, but would not join an opposition-led government.

During the voting, Netanyahu also raised allegations of fraud involving Arab parties, claiming that individuals had been caught with envelopes of cash. Police confirmed the arrest of three suspects, but the election committee described the incident as an isolated local case.

With no bloc holding enough seats to govern independently, the Arab parties’ position could prove significant in the negotiations ahead.