Israel Election Results 2026 LIVE Updates: Setback for Netanyahu, United Torah Judaism refuses to recommend any PM candidate

Israel Election Results 2026 LIVE: Netanyahu’s allies refuse to back the result, as President Herzog begins talks on who should form the next government.

Israel Election Results 2026 LIVE: Israeli President Isaac Herzog has begun talks with the parties elected to the new Knesset to decide who gets the first chance to form the next government, The Times of Israel reports. Each party is asked to name its choice for prime minister. Herzog must pick the lawmaker he thinks has the best chance of winning enough support in parliament, and that is not always the leader of the largest party.

What we know so far

Israel’s Central Elections Committee has certified the results of the October 27 election and found no evidence of fraud. In the 120-seat Knesset, a bloc needs 61 seats to govern. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats, and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot won 48, so neither can form a government alone. The Arab parties, Joint List and Ra’am, won a record 19 seats between them, which could decide the outcome, though Jewish-led parties have long been reluctant to work with them. Netanyahu has called such a deal “a shame and disgrace”. Herzog has until November 11 to finish the talks and name a candidate. Netanyahu stays as caretaker leader until a new government wins a confidence vote, and Israel could face another election if neither side can build a coalition.

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Key updates

• Herzog began talks on Wednesday with Religious Zionism, Shas, Yisrael Beytenu and Zehut, and will meet the remaining parties on Thursday, ending with Likud.
• Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit, Shas and Likud will recommend Netanyahu.
• Yashar, the Democrats, B’Yachad and Yisrael Beytenu will recommend Eisenkot.
• United Torah Judaism has not said whom it will back, and Likud is reportedly pressing it to choose Netanyahu.
• Joint List and Ra’am have not said whom they prefer, and could back Eisenkot if their votes are needed.

Follow the latest updates on the Israel election here. This live blog tracks the key developments as voting day unfolds. The headline, introduction and Top Developments section will be refreshed through the day to reflect the most important news from the vote.

Live Updates
Nov 5, 2026 01:07 PM IST
United Torah Judaism declines to recommend any candidate for PM

The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party declines to recommend any candidate for prime minister during consultations with President Isaac Herzog, withholding its support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Times of Israel reported.

Nov 5, 2026 12:10 PM IST
Israel election results: Opposition backs Eisenkot to oust Netanyahu, remains split over Arab parties

The political deadlock in Israel after the October 27 parliamentary elections continues as the question of who will emerge as the leader lingers, while the opposition leaders agreed in a meeting on Tuesday to back Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rival and former military chief, Gadi Eisenkot, to form a new government and remained divided over Arab-led parties’ cooperation.

During a 70-minute meeting in Israel’s Herzliya, the first since the election last month, the five party heads, Yashar’s Eisenkot, Beyachad’s Naftali Bennett, Atid’s Yair Lapid, Democrats’ Yair Golan and Beytenu’s Avigdor Liberman agreed to immediately coordinate efforts in order to replace the Netanyahu-led government with a national emergency government, Al Jazeera reported. The Israeli election results left neither bloc with a majority in the 120-member Knesset. Eisenkot-led bloc won 48 seats in the election.

Read the full story here.

Nov 5, 2026 11:07 AM IST
Oil falls for a fourth day on expectations for lower risk of Iran war escalation

Oil prices fell for a fourth day on Thursday on expectations the losses US President Donald Trump's Republican Party suffered in Congressional elections this week may reduce the risk of further escalation of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Brent futures fell 80 cents, or 0.85% to $93.82 a barrel as of 0426 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $1.2, or 1.36%, to $86.92.

Both benchmarks tumbled by more than 8% in the previous session to settle at their lowest since August 31.

A weakened Trump, facing a ⁠Democratic Congress ​able to constrain his military options, has greater incentive to seek a deal, two sources close to Gulf government circles said on Wednesday. A full-scale assault on Iran now looks less likely, they said.

Nov 5, 2026 10:59 AM IST
Arab parties extend a hand to try and topple Netanyahu, but challenges remain

A veteran Arab lawmaker in Israel says his bloc is willing to break with decades of precedent and join forces with Jewish-led parties in a shared bid to end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's long rule.

"We want to do things that we did not do in the past to remove this criminal government," Ahmad Tibi, a senior member of the Arab Joint List, told The Associated Press (AP).

But any such partnership could be politically fraught for both sides. For the Joint List, it would mean backing a government unlikely to end Israel's wars or curb settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. For Netanyahu's opponents, it would mean aligning with parties that not only criticise Israeli policies, but reject its identity as a Jewish state.

Nov 5, 2026 10:35 AM IST
Israel’s President talks on who can form the government

Israeli President Isaac Herzog began consultations with party leaders on Wednesday to decide who gets the first shot at forming a government, following last week’s inconclusive election.

Over two days, politicians will meet Herzog at the president’s residence in Jerusalem. Each will argue that the mandate should go to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his main challenger Gadi Eisenkot, or another candidate.

Herzog’s first meeting on Wednesday afternoon was with the far-right Religious Zionism party, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. He then spoke with Avigdor Liberman’s right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu and the ultra-Orthodox Shas party. Parts of the talks were livestreamed.

Herzog urged the parties to soften some of their election demands to help end the political deadlock. With no clear winner, he said before the meetings, the country needs creativity, courage and goodwill from its politicians so that Israel as a whole comes out ahead, The New York Times reported.

Nov 5, 2026 10:11 AM IST
Israel election commission confirms final results

Israel’s election authority confirmed the final results on Wednesday, dismissing the prime minister’s claims of widespread fraud. The count, taken a week earlier, left Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right alliance without a majority to govern. His chief rival, Gadi Eisenkot, accused him of mounting a “pogrom against democracy”. He said Netanyahu was trying to cling to power by casting doubt on legitimate ballots and turning the security services on parties led by Palestinian citizens of Israel, The Guardian report said.

Nov 5, 2026 08:45 AM IST
Trump says US will cut military aid to Israel

US President Donald Trump has said Washington will stop providing nearly $4 billion in annual military assistance to Israel by the end of 2026, claiming that the country no longer needs the money. In a Fox News interview on November 3 (Tuesday), as Americans voted in the midterm elections, Trump said he had reached an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the funding. The US would still sell weapons to its Middle East ally and help them when needed, Trump said.

The announcement on the face of it sounds momentous, coming specially from a US President who is a steadfast Israel backer. But Trump offered no details on how the cutoff would be implemented, and the existing US-Israel military aid agreement runs until September 2028.

Nov 5, 2026 07:56 AM IST
Netanyahu vs Eisenkot: Who will be Israel’s next PM? What’s happening?

The race to form a new government in Israel has entered its next phase after the country’s Central Election Committee certified the October 27 general election results and submitted them to President Isaac Herzog after the commission found no evidence of fraud, as claimed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party in an effort to discredit the vote.

The general election results were submitted to the president on Wednesday, who has accepted them and is now poised to hold consultations for two days with leaders of the blocs before choosing the candidate who has the clearest path to form a government. The development comes after the Netanyahu-led bloc won 53 seats; his rival Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition bloc got 48 seats, and Arab-led parties recorded 19 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

Herzog to hold consultations with party leaders

Reports stated that a round of consultations has begun at the president’s office, and Yesh Party chief Eisenkot is expected to present a higher number of recommendations than Netanyahu. Read more

Nov 5, 2026 06:51 AM IST
Herzog warned Netanyahu of ‘severe consequences’ for Israel, Jews from unchecked settler violence

President Isaac Herzog sent a warning letter last month to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials, warning of a “highly explosive and dangerous reality” in the West Bank, and lamenting the ongoing “moral disgrace” of settler violence.

“The IDF commanders, the police officers and the Shin Bet personnel present a worrying picture of limited tools and a shortage of manpower,” wrote Herzog to Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in an October 8 letter seen by The Times of Israel.

Nov 5, 2026 06:50 AM IST
Netanyahu vs Eisenkot: Who will be Israel’s next PM? What’s happening?

The race to form a new government in Israel has entered its next phase after the country’s Central Election Committee certified the October 27 general election results and submitted them to President Isaac Herzog after the commission found no evidence of fraud, as claimed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party in an effort to discredit the vote.

The general election results were submitted to the president on Wednesday, who has accepted them and is now poised to hold consultations for two days with leaders of the blocs before choosing the candidate who has the clearest path to form a government. The development comes after the Netanyahu-led bloc won 53 seats; his rival Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition bloc got 48 seats, and Arab-led parties recorded 19 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

Nov 5, 2026 06:48 AM IST

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