Netanyahu's Likud and Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar are tied at 20 seats in the last polls. Will Likud finish first on Oct 27?

Israel's Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, finished as the largest single party in the Oct. 27, 2026 Knesset election, winning 27 seats once all votes were counted. Gadi Eisenkot's new Yashar party finished second with 21 seats. Netanyahu's broader right-wing and far-right coalition bloc took 53 of the Knesset's 120 seats, while the opposition bloc led by Eisenkot secured 48, with Arab-led parties holding the remaining seats. Both blocs fell short of the 61 seats needed for a majority, leaving Netanyahu about eight seats shy of being able to form a government on his own.

The result followed a campaign in which pre-election polling had shown Likud and Yashar roughly tied near 20 seats each, with the race widely described as too close to call. Likud's final 27-seat tally gave it a clearer edge than most surveys had suggested. Under Israeli law, the president has seven days from the official results to task a lawmaker with forming a government, setting up a period of coalition negotiations in which smaller parties, including Arab-led factions, could play a decisive role in deciding who ultimately leads the next government.