{"id":2103,"date":"2026-10-28T07:46:06","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T07:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/28\/netanyahu-bloc-leads-after-half-of-israeli-votes-counted-but-no-majority\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T07:46:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T07:46:06","slug":"netanyahu-bloc-leads-after-half-of-israeli-votes-counted-but-no-majority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/28\/netanyahu-bloc-leads-after-half-of-israeli-votes-counted-but-no-majority\/","title":{"rendered":"Netanyahu bloc leads after half of Israeli votes counted but no majority"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Netanyahu<\/p>\n

The camp of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ahead of his rival\u2019s opposition bloc but still short of a majority on Wednesday after 50 percent of votes were counted in Israel\u2019s pivotal general election.<\/p>\n

Voters turned out in the highest numbers in decades to give their verdict on Netanyahu, Israel\u2019s longest-serving prime minister who has pushed the country sharply to the right and unleashed a wave of wars in response to Hamas\u2019s October 7, 2023 attack.<\/p>\n

Following the vote, both Netanyahu and his rival Gadi Eisenkot vowed to form a government despite neither being projected to win a majority.<\/p>\n

After 51.8 percent of ballots were counted, Netanyahu\u2019s bloc was shown to have 55 of the 120 seats in the parliament.<\/p>\n

Eisenkot\u2019s opposition bloc had 49 seats and the Arab parties 16.\u00a0The partial results are likely to change as more votes are counted.<\/p>\n

Exit polls had shown that Eisenkot, a former military chief and political novice, and his opposition bloc were neck-and-neck with Netanyahu\u2019s hard-right camp, with both winning about 51 seats, well away from the threshold for a majority in parliament.<\/p>\n

The strongest gains came from Arab Israeli parties whose voters turned out in soaring numbers against Netanyahu, who has relentlessly warned that the minority would dilute the Jewish nationalist direction in which he has taken Israel.<\/p>\n

The partial results suggest that Eisenkot\u2019s bloc would have enough seats for a majority if there was a coalition agreement with the Arab parties.<\/p>\n

But Eisenkot said during the campaign he would not govern with Israeli Arab lawmakers, echoing the position of Netanyahu, who has suggested a government relying on Arab votes would lack legitimacy.<\/p>\n

Arab lawmakers could also give Eisenkot support in parliamentary votes to maintain a minority government without joining a coalition.<\/p>\n

A lack of clear majority for either camp could mean weeks spent trying to cobble together coalitions, with possible new elections on the horizon if negotiations fail.<\/p>\n

A stalemate could in the immediate term benefit Netanyahu, who would remain caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed.<\/p>\n

Full results are expected by Thursday evening or Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu, greeting cheering supporters at a Jerusalem convention centre after 3 am (0100 GMT) on Wednesday morning, called for a \u201cstrong government of the right\u201d and said the \u201cJewish and Zionist majority must unite\u201d.<\/p>\n

The 77-year-old prime minister, who has governed Israel on and off for nearly two decades, was unusually brief and did not directly claim victory.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that his endorsement of Netanyahu had helped the premier \u201ca lot\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2013 \u2018Public voted for change\u2019 \u2013<\/h2>\n

Speaking to supporters in Tel Aviv, 66-year-old Eisenkot issued a veiled warning to Netanyahu, who observers say could use a war to push for a unity government.<\/p>\n

\u201cNetanyahu, don\u2019t you dare use Israel\u2019s security for your political needs,\u201d Eisenkot said.<\/p>\n

He called Netanyahu \u201ca caretaker prime minister, without a mandate or the people\u2019s trust\u201d.<\/p>\n

The vote came as Israel looks increasingly isolated on the world stage, driven by the war in Iran and the military campaign in Gaza, as well as soaring settlement construction and violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n

Eisenkot shares many of Netanyahu\u2019s views on security and has backed the Gaza offensive that has reduced the territory to rubble.<\/p>\n

But he has vowed to create a more inclusive atmosphere inside Israel and to rein in violent West Bank settlers.<\/p>\n

After a turnout of nearly 78 percent, the highest since 1999, Eisenkot said it would be a mistake to hold a second election and vowed to work \u201cswiftly\u201d to form a government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public has voted for change,\u201d he said. \u201cA worthy leader would accept the people\u2019s vote of no confidence and announce his retirement from political life today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exit polls had shown Israeli Arab lists projected to win 18 or 19 seats, a sharp gain.<\/p>\n

Arab Israelis, also known as Palestinian citizens of Israel, account for about 21 percent of the country\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

\n

The post Netanyahu bloc leads after half of Israeli votes counted but no majority<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

Vanguard News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The camp of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ahead of his rival\u2019s opposition bloc but still short of a majority on Wednesday after 50 percent of votes were counted in… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2104,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}