Final vote results in Israel set up weeks of uncertainty about who will govern

The final vote count in Israel’s election, released early on Oct 30, confirmed that neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition nor the main opposition alliance won enough votes to form a government.
The result sets the stage for weeks of jockeying and political uncertainty.
Netanyahu’s Likud party and its hard-right allies won 53 seats in Parliament, not enough to meet the 61-seat threshold for an outright majority.
The final count, from Israel’s Central Elections Committee, showed Netanyahu’s alliance was down from the 64 seats it won in the last election, in 2022.
The main opposition bloc, led by Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief who had led in opinion polls for months, won 48.
Two Arab parties secured 19 seats, their highest-ever number of seats.