Voter turnout reaches 77.7%, the highest since 1999, as 500,000 special double-envelope ballots remain to be counted
Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu stands next to his wife Sara Netanyahu as he gives a statement following exit polls for Israel’s national election, at Likud’s election headquarters in Jerusalem, October 28, 2026. REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc was projected to win 53 parliamentary seats on Wednesday after all regular ballots were counted, with more than 500,000 special ballots still pending, Channel 12 reported.
The opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot was projected to secure 48 seats, while predominantly Arab parties were expected to win 19 seats, according to the broadcaster.
Neither main bloc was projected to reach the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority in the 120-member Knesset.
Voter turnout reached 77.7%, the highest since 1999, Channel 12 reported.
Read: Fastest turnout for half a century as Israelis pass wartime judgment on Netanyahu
However, more than 500,000 special double-envelope ballots remained to be counted, potentially affecting the final distribution of parliamentary seats.
Double-envelope ballots are used by voters casting their votes away from their registered polling stations, including soldiers, diplomats, police officers and displaced residents.
Under the system, voters place their ballots in an envelope, which is then placed inside a second envelope containing their identification details to prevent duplicate voting.
Elad Naveh, director of the Central Elections Committee’s control centre, said the counting of double-envelope ballots was expected to begin on Wednesday evening and finish on Thursday evening.
He said the process could continue until Friday.
The projected results could change once election officials complete the counting of the remaining ballots.
Israel’s Arab parties could decide who governs next.
Neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot has the 61 seats needed for a majority.
Both need the Arab parties. But neither has an easy path to working with them.
They can’t form a government themselves. But they could stop anyone else… pic.twitter.com/FgCyj2juO1
— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 28, 2026
More than 7.3 million Israelis were eligible to vote in Tuesday’s election, the first since Israel launched its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
Netanyahu, addressing his Likud party after 3 am (0100 GMT) at the party’s election headquarters in Jerusalem, called for the formation of “a strong, right-wing national government”.
“We simply must not endanger Israel by forming a government that relies on anti-Zionist Arab parties. Parties that oppose our very existence.” Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Likud supporters in Jerusalem after exit polls show his party emerging as Israel’s largest, but with no… pic.twitter.com/ebX4TRkdkk
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) October 28, 2026
He also highlighted Israel’s military successes and raised the prospect of renewed joint military action against Iran alongside his ally, US President Donald Trump.
“Israel faces a singular historical opportunity, together with our partner President Trump, to remove the existential threat of Iran once and for all. But ulterior motives must not divert us from this sacred mission,” he said.
Read More: Netanyahu faces reckoning for October 7 in Israel’s first vote since attack
Trump, who had called on Israeli voters to keep Netanyahu in power so the two leaders could “finish the job” in Iran, said Netanyahu had done “very well” thanks to his own endorsement that “helped him a lot”.
“It might be winning or tie. The tie is sort of considered a win in that case because it’s a big chess match,” Trump said early on Wednesday at a campaign stop in Texas.
The likelihood of a caretaker government with no parliamentary majority weighed on Israel’s financial markets. The shekel currency weakened around 1.6% to 3.10 to the US dollar. Tel Aviv’s key benchmark stock indexes fell more than 3%.
Eisenkot calls on security chiefs to resist pressure
Eisenkot acknowledged that Netanyahu was still in office as a caretaker, but said the prime minister had lost public support and urged him to retire from politics. He also issued a warning that Netanyahu might use security for political ends.
“I call on the heads of the security establishment and the civil service: Netanyahu is a caretaker prime minister, without a mandate or the people’s trust,” he said.
Israel’s Gadi Eisenkot:
I want to address from here all the heads of the defense establishment and the public service.
Netanyahu is a transitional prime minister, without a mandate and without trust.
Remember that you serve the state and the interests of the citizens of Israel… pic.twitter.com/FJcKqi4yS6
— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 27, 2026
“Remember that you serve only the state and the interests of Israel’s citizens. Stand firm in the face of any attempt to challenge you,” he said. “Netanyahu, do not dare use Israel’s security for your political needs.”
The election was the first held in Israel since Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people and carried off 251 hostages in attacks that shattered the country’s sense of security and plunged it into war in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
The war in Gaza, which flattened the territory and killed 74,000 Palestinians, has left Israel increasingly isolated on the world stage, with a decisive shift in global public opinion against it, including in its closest ally, the United States.
Netanyahu himself is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on war crimes charges he calls absurd, and faces corruption charges in Israel that he dismisses as an establishment plot.
