Election Deadlock in Israel: Netanyahu Remains Caretaker PM as Arab Bloc Holds Balance of Power
Right-wing bloc secures 53 seats, Eisenkot’s opposition wins 48; an unprecedented 19 seats for Arab parties leaves coalition math uncertain
Executive Briefing
Israel faces political uncertainty after national elections left all major blocs short of a 61-seat parliamentary majority. Benjamin Netanyahu continues as caretaker prime minister with his 53-seat right-wing bloc, while former army chief Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition alliance secured 48 seats, leaving the future government dependent on an empowered Arab parliamentary contingent.
Israel’s general election has concluded without any political bloc securing the 61-seat threshold needed to form a government in the 120-seat Knesset. The resulting stalemate leaves Benjamin Netanyahu in power as caretaker prime minister while parties enter complex, multi-week coalition talks or risk an eventual return to the polls.
According to final tallies, Netanyahu’s right-wing and ultra-Orthodox alliance won 53 seats. Within the bloc, his Likud party took 27 seats, followed by United Torah Judaism and Otzma Yehudit with 7 each, and Shas and Religious Zionism securing 6 seats each.
The opposition bloc, led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, secured 48 seats. His party Yashar claimed 21 seats, accompanied by Be'yachad with 12, The Democrats with 8, and Yisrael Beiteinu with 7. The election’s decisive variable emerged in the Arab-led parties, which captured 19 seats—with the Joint List winning 11 and Ra'am taking 8.
Without direct cooperation from the Arab parties, Eisenkot lacks a feasible path to an outright majority. However, mainstream Jewish political leaders have historically avoided formal governance pacts with Arab factions, complicating any cross-bloc arrangement. Eisenkot responded to the outcome by emphasizing that the majority of voters cast ballots against Netanyahu's policies and wartime governance. He called on state security heads and civil servants to treat Netanyahu strictly as a caretaker leader lacking a definitive mandate.
Legal experts note that while interim administrations operate under certain conventions of restraint, they retain essential executive authority on pressing strategic and security matters. President Isaac Herzog is scheduled to consult party leaders and task a prospective candidate with forming a government following the Knesset swearing-in ceremony on November 10. The nominee will have up to 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, to assemble a majority before the prospect of another snap election arises.
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