JERUSALEM – Parties opposed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secured 67 seats in the 120-member parliament after 85.6 percent of votes were counted in Tuesday's election, according to updated official results.
The Central Elections Committee said the results were based on the counting of most votes cast at regular polling stations. About half a million votes cast in double envelopes at polling stations in military bases, hospitals and other institutions have yet to be counted, with the count expected to be completed by Friday.
According to the recent count, Netanyahu's right-wing bloc won 53 seats, while the opposition secured 67, including 48 for former military chief Gadi Eisenkot's bloc and 19 for Arab parties.
Netanyahu's Likud party remained the largest single party with 26 seats, followed by Eisenkot's Yashar party with 21. The Joint List – an alliance of Arab-majority parties comprising Ta'al, Balad, and Hadash – and the center-right Together won 12 seats each, while the Arab-majority Ra'am party secured seven.
The Arab parties have called for a coalition with Eisenkot's bloc based on an unprecedented Jewish-Arab partnership, but ahead of the elections, Eisenkot has repeatedly ruled out governing with Arab parties or relying on their support, while Netanyahu has also rejected their participation in government.
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Also on Wednesday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that every effort must be made to avoid another round of elections, after preliminary results showed neither of the main blocs had secured a majority in the parliament.
Arab parties in talks with anti-Netanyahu bloc
In an interview with Israel's state-owned Kan Reshet Bet Radio, senior Arab lawmaker Ahmad Tibi confirmed that the Joint List is in talks with the bloc opposing Netanyahu over the formation of an alternative government following Tuesday's parliamentary election.
Tibi, chairman of the Ta'al party, said the Joint List was ready to help the so-called "change bloc" replace Netanyahu, although it was unlikely to formally join a governing coalition.
"We have blocked the possibility of Netanyahu forming a government," Tibi said, referring to the election results. "Our public wants us to go further and influence the shape of the political system after the elections."
Tibi said the alliance was open to discussing parliamentary arrangements, including how and when its lawmakers would vote, in exchange for progress on issues affecting Israel's Arab minority, including crime, house demolitions, infrastructure and incitement.
"We will probably not be an organic part of this government," he said, adding that other arrangements were possible.
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Yair Golan, leader of the center-left Democrats party, which is part of the opposition bloc led by Eisenkot, urged his allies to abandon their refusal to cooperate with Arab parties.
"We must no longer accept Netanyahu's racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes," Golan wrote on social media platform X.
Yousef Jabareen, chairman of the Joint List, also expressed willingness to help Eisenkot replace Netanyahu.
"Anyone who wants to offer a real alternative to Netanyahu's bloodstained government will have to talk to us," Jabareen said in a statement. "We are ready to pave the way for Netanyahu's removal."
