Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out partnering with Arab-led parties to form a coalition, even as their historic gains in the October 27 parliamentary election place them in a potentially decisive role.

With his right-wing bloc falling short of a 61-seat majority, Netanyahu’s Likud party has accused Arab political factions of widespread election fraud, claiming the vote was “stolen” through alleged voter bribery, intimidation, and irregularities. Arab party leaders have rejected the allegations as a scare tactic aimed at delegitimising their surging electoral presence.

Now, the question remains whether the opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot will be willing to work with the Arab-led Ra’am and Joint List parties to end Netanyahu’s tenure, or whether political differences will prevent an alternative government from taking shape.

The Times of Israel reported, citing the latest partial count, that Netanyahu’s bloc has 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, compared with 48 for Eisenkot’s bloc. The two Arab-led parties are projected to win a combined 19 seats, taking the potential opposition grouping to 67, more than the 61 required for a parliamentary majority. The figures remain provisional as counting continues.

However, the seat arithmetic does not guarantee a coalition. Netanyahu has rejected cooperation with the Arab parties, while Eisenkot and several of his prospective allies have been reluctant to commit to relying on their support.

Netanyahu alleges election fraud, rules out Arab-party cooperation On Thursday, Netanyahu intensified his allegations of election fraud by Arab-led parties, describing suspected foreign interference as an “earthquake” and demanding an immediate investigation by the police and Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency.

In a social media post, Netanyahu cited Central Elections Committee chief Justice Noam Sohlberg’s decision to ask Shin Bet chief David Zini to investigate suspicions of foreign funding and improper influence in Tuesday’s election.

Israel election 2026 · Interactive Can you build a coalition that reaches 61 seats?

Tap a party to add its seats; tap it again to take it out. The counter at the top updates as you go. Data updated: Oct 29, 2026, 08:02 Israel time.

Projected seats from the Central Elections Committee count as reported by N12 (06:14) and Calcalist (08:02): 91.7% of votes and 98.6% of regular polling stations counted. About 430,000–480,000 double-envelope ballots were still being counted. Seats are projections, not an official allocation; official results are due by Nov 4. This is a mathematical scenario, not a prediction. Parties may rule out cooperation even when their seats add up to a majority. of 120 seats Tap again to remove 61 seats or more Mathematical majority:

seats Below majority more seats needed Netanyahu bloc 53 seats Likud Benjamin Netanyahu Add Likud Remove Likud Shas Aryeh Deri Add Shas Remove Shas United Torah Judaism Yaakov Asher Otzma Yehudit Itamar Ben-Gvir Remove Otzma Yehudit Religious Zionism–Zehut Bezalel Smotrich Eisenkot bloc 48 seats Yashar Gadi Eisenkot Add Yashar Remove Yashar B’Yachad Naftali Bennett Add B’Yachad Remove B’Yachad Yisrael Beytenu Avigdor Liberman Remove Yisrael Beytenu The Democrats Yair Golan Remove The Democrats Arab-led parties 19 seats Joint List Yousef Jabareen Add Joint List Remove Joint List Ra’am Mansour Abbas Add Ra’am Remove Ra’am Political reality check Dated public positions relevant to your mix appear here: ruled out, reluctant, policy clash or open to talks.

A position can change in negotiations.

Ruled out: Yisrael Beytenu + Arab-led parties Avigdor Liberman has pledged not to form a government that relies on Arab parties (The Times of Israel, Oct 28).

Ruled out: B’Yachad + Arab-led parties Naftali Bennett has pledged not to sit with Arab parties this time, although he led a government that included Ra’am in 2021 (The Times of Israel, Oct 28).

Ruled out: The Democrats + Likud or Haredi parties Yair Golan says he will not sit with the Haredi parties, or with Likud while Netanyahu leads it (The Jewish Chronicle, Oct 28). Ruled out: Likud + Arab-led parties Netanyahu said it was unthinkable “to set up a government that relies upon anti-Zionist Arab parties” (The Times of Israel, Oct 28).

Ruled out: Yashar + Likud Gadi Eisenkot has rejected serving under Netanyahu, including in a rotation (The Jerusalem Post, Oct 28). Netanyahu says partners are welcome “without a rotation” (Israel Hayom, Oct 28).

Policy clash: Yashar + Haredi parties Eisenkot’s stated priority is a “Zionist government committed to military conscription” (Ynet, Oct 28). United Torah Judaism quit Netanyahu’s government over the draft law.

Reluctant: Yashar + Arab-led parties Before the vote, Eisenkot ruled out a minority government relying on Arab-led parties (Al Jazeera, Oct 29).

Since then he has not set out any framework for working with them (Ynet, Oct 28).

Open to talks: Ra’am Mansour Abbas told Channel 12 that “everyone is speaking with us”, and said he is willing to join an Eisenkot-led coalition if it proves viable (The Times of Israel, Oct 28). Open to talks: The Democrats + Arab-led parties Golan has urged partners to form “a government of change in partnership with Israel’s Arab citizens” (The Times of Israel, Oct 28).

Open to talks: Joint List Ahmad Tibi said the Joint List would not seek ministries or formal coalition membership, but would consider backing a government from outside in return for commitments on crime in Arab communities and an end to Bedouin home demolitions (Ynet, Oct 28). 61 is not the only route. To take office, a government needs more votes for it than against in a Knesset confidence vote. A party can join the cabinet, back the government from outside without taking ministries, or abstain. The Bennett-Lapid government was sworn in by 60 votes to 59 in 2021, with one abstention.

A coalition below 61, though, needs outside help to pass laws and survive. Sources: Projected seats: Central Elections Committee count as reported by N12 and Calcalist (Oct 29, 2026, 06:14–08:02 Israel time).

Positions: The Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post, Israel Hayom, Ynet, The Jewish Chronicle, Al Jazeera (Oct 28–29, 2026). 2021 vote: Axios. Seats are calculated projections, not an official allocation.

Express InfoGenIE Created by Aniruddha Dhar“The Ra’amgate affair is an earthquake. They stole the elections in Israel!”Netanyahu wrote, targeting Ra’am, also known as the United Arab List, and the Joint List alliance.

He alleged that foreign entities had interfered in the parliamentary elections and bribed voters in favour of Arab-led parties.

Netanyahu also claimed that the alleged interference was intended to secure a foreign takeover of Israel’s parliament, promote the “Islamisation of Israel” and end right-wing rule. Netanyahu said no Zionist party should cooperate with Ra’am or the Joint List, alleging that votes had been bought with cash to facilitate a change in the Knesset leadership and the formation of a government that would pose a danger to Israel.

The Central Elections Committee chief had earlier written to Shin Bet chief Zini, asking him to investigate suspicions of improper influence through funding from foreign entities allegedly acting against Israeli interests. Sohlberg said he could not attest to the substance of the suspicions but considered a thorough investigation necessary, asking for the findings within a week.

The letter did not identify the countries allegedly involved or provide further details of the suspected interference. Hebrew-language media reports said Netanyahu’s Likud party believed Qatar and Turkiye might have been sources of funds allegedly sent to organisations involved in mobilising Arab voters.

Police have dismissed Likud’s broader claim that the election was “stolen” by Arab parties, saying there was “no supporting evidence”, news agency PTI reported. Can Eisenkot work with Arab parties?

Eisenkot has so far largely avoided giving an unequivocal commitment to partner with Arab parties if their support is needed to form a government.

According to The New York Times report reproduced in the supplied material, he said none of the parties met his conditions as potential allies. Interestingly, the scale of the Arab parties’ projected gains could make their support difficult for the opposition to ignore. The Arab minority represents about one-fifth of Israel’s population.

Record turnout among Arab citizens appears to have translated into a projected 19 seats for Ra’am and the Joint List, their strongest combined showing in generations, according to The New York Times.

The two parties have 10 seats in the outgoing Knesset.

Without their support, Eisenkot’s bloc is likely to fall short of the 61 seats needed to form a government and remove Netanyahu from power.

Yousef Jabareen, leader of the Joint List alliance, said Netanyahu was using allegations against Arab parties to prevent political change. “Netanyahu knows that without the Arab parties, there’s no majority to unseat him. That’s why he incites against us,” Jabareen told The New York Times.

He added, “The ball is now in Eisenkot’s court. Whoever wants to remove Netanyahu and change his policies — we are ready to cooperate to topple his government.”Political analysts cited by the newspaper said the Joint List could be more likely to support an Eisenkot-led government from outside the coalition, including by helping prevent no-confidence votes that could bring it down. Democrats leader Yair Golan has also urged the opposition to work with Arab parties.

On Thursday, Eisenkot said he was in contact with the relevant authorities and receiving updates on suspicions of foreign interference.

In a social media post, he said Israel must protect the integrity of its elections and thoroughly investigate every complaint, while cautioning against political actors exploiting the situation to influence the timing of the inauguration of the 26th Knesset, PTI reported. Ra’am and the Joint List have different political positions Although both parties represent Arab citizens of Israel, Ra’am and the Joint List have different political backgrounds and approaches to coalition politics.

Ra’am, led by Mansour Abbas, has roots in Islamist politics and has sought to build greater acceptance among Jewish political parties. The Joint List is an alliance of smaller parties that includes leftists and Palestinian nationalists and is generally seen as more antagonistic towards Zionism, according to The New York Times.

Ra’am joined the coalition formed in 2021 under then-prime minister Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. That government ended in 2022, triggering another election, PTI reported.

Abbas has since sought to make his party more acceptable to Jewish voters and potential coalition partners. The party has recognised Israel’s Jewish character as a fact of life and considered ways to integrate Arab citizens into national service. The Joint List, by contrast, has historically been reluctant to join Zionist-led governments.

Its leaders have nevertheless indicated that they are willing to help bring about a change of government. What are the possible outcomes?

The first possibility is that Eisenkot and his prospective partners reach an agreement with Ra’am and the Joint List, either through a coalition or through external support.

That would require some opposition leaders to reconsider their stated positions and accept the political risks of relying on Arab lawmakers. Israel · Election 2026 Israel election: who won what Seats by party, and the coalition paths open to Netanyahu and Eisenkot.

Seats by party The blocs Coalition paths Projected seats for the 120-member Knesset from the count so far. These are calculations, not an official allocation. 61 = majority Religious Zionism Below the 3.25% threshold on the current count, so no seats: the Reservists-Economic Party, Amcha Yisrael and the Haredi Public, among other lists. Neither side reaches the 61 seats needed.

The dashed line marks the majority. 8 short. Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism, Otzma Yehudit, Religious Zionism. The same lists won 64 seats in 2022. 13 short.

Yashar, B’Yachad, The Democrats, Yisrael Beytenu. Record high.

Joint List 11 and Ra’am 8, up from 10 seats in 2022 and a previous best of 15.

They are separate parties with different positions. Eisenkot bloc 48 + Arab-led parties 19 = on paper, but Bennett and Liberman have pledged not to rely on Arab parties, and Eisenkot ruled out such a minority government before the vote.

Four ways this could go. Nothing starts until President Herzog consults party leaders. Path 1 Netanyahu builds from 53 His bloc needs 8 more seats for 61.

Ra’am’s 8 would make 61 on paper, but Netanyahu called a government relying on “anti-Zionist Arab parties” unthinkable. He stays caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed. Netanyahu bloc: 53 of 61 Path 2 Netanyahu–Eisenkot unity government Israel Hayom’s analysis calls it Netanyahu’s only realistic path to stay prime minister.

Eisenkot has rejected serving under Netanyahu, including in a rotation; Netanyahu says partners are welcome “without a rotation”. Path 3 Opposition government backed by Arab parties Eisenkot bloc 48 + 19 = 67 on paper. Golan and the Joint List favour it; Bennett and Liberman have ruled out relying on Arab parties.

The Joint List would back it from outside, not join; Ra’am’s Abbas says he is open to joining an Eisenkot-led coalition. On paper: 67 of 61 Path 4 A new election Possible if deadlock holds. Herzog has urged parties to avoid another vote. What happens next: About 430,000–480,000 double-envelope ballots (soldiers, diplomats, prisoners and others) are being counted and could shift seats at the margins; so far one seat has moved from the Joint List to Ra’am, with no change to the blocs. Official results are due by November 4.

Herzog then consults the parties and picks who tries to form a government. Tap a tab to switch.

Bloc labels follow how Israeli media group the parties; the Eisenkot bloc is the opposition side without the Arab-led parties. Projected seats: Central Elections Committee count as reported by N12 and Calcalist (Oct 29, 2026, 06:14–08:02 Israel time). Positions and analysis: The Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post, Israel Hayom, Ynet, Al Jazeera (Oct 28–29, 2026). 2022 results: Central Elections Committee.

A second possibility is a prolonged deadlock. If neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the opposition can assemble a viable government, negotiations could continue without an immediate change in leadership.

A third possibility is another election or a unity government involving Netanyahu, though neither outcome is assured. The Times of Israel has identified a potential Arab-backed opposition government, a unity arrangement and a fresh election among the possible scenarios.

The Central Elections Committee is expected to publish the final results by November 4. President Isaac Herzog will then consult political factions before assigning a lawmaker the task of forming a government, PTI reported.