In brief
Israel’s latest parliamentary election left the right‑wing bloc of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu short of a majority, with 53 of 120 seats projected. Arab parties collectively win a record 19 seats, and a historic 77.7% voter turnout marks the highest participation since 1999. Market uncertainty lingers as stocks fall on the partial vote counts.
Israeli election results revealed a hung parliament, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right‑wing bloc projected to win 53 seats of the 120‑member Knesset, falling 15 short of the 61 needed for a majority. The combined Arab bloc is expected to take a record 19 seats, 12 for the Joint List and 7 for Ra’am, according to United Press International. The tally also shows a voter turnout of 77.7%, the highest since 1999.
Opposition leaders, led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, hold 48 seats in preliminary counts, still shy of a governing majority. The final double‑envelope ballot count is expected to finish by Thursday, with official results slated for publication on 4 November.
Xinhua reports that Tel Aviv stocks fell sharply after the partial results showed Netanyahu’s bloc leading but not commanding a majority, with the TA‑35 index down 1.81 percent and the TA‑125 index falling 2.46 percent. The Israeli shekel weakened 1.62 percent against the dollar, to 3.128 shekels per dollar, according to official exchange rates.
Al Jazeera notes that turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel reached about 80% of registered voters, a historic figure that may boost the Arab parties’ bargaining power. The source also highlights that analysts believe the surge in Arab voter participation was driven by perceived harsh treatment by the Likud‑led government.
Netanyahu, whose Likud party is projected to win 26 seats—the most of any single party, —has stated that his bloc holds a decisive majority among the Jewish and Zionist public and called Likud the largest party in Israel. In a social media post, Gadi Eisenkot expressed confidence that the results reflected a “victory for the statist‑Zionist majority.”
