No clear winner in Israel election with nearly 90 percent of votes counted

No clear winner has emerged from Israel's election, with almost 90 percent of ballots counted and both major political blocs falling short of the 61 seats needed to form a administration.

Key points

• The Israeli Central Elections Committee remarked on Wednesday that it had counted more than five million votes as of 9pm local time (19: 00 GMT).
• The vote – the first since the October 7, 2023, attacks and the Gaza genocide – was widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's premiership.
• Projections from Tuesday's voting additionally demonstrated that the Arab parties – the Joint List and Ra'am – could hold a record combined 19 seats.
• More than 500, 000 special double-envelope ballots remain to be counted, potentially changing the seat distribution.
• Against the backdrop of record turnout among Arab voters, Netanyahu's Likud party accused Arab parties of stealing the election.

In practice, the Israeli Central Elections Committee remarked on Wednesday that it had counted more than five million votes as of 9pm local time (19: 00 GMT). While the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot is projected to secure 48 seats, israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc is on course to win 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

Though no clear winner is projected to emerge, final election results could come as early as Thursday evening.

More than 500, 000 special double-envelope ballots remain to be counted, potentially changing the seat distribution. These include votes cast by soldiers, diplomats and others voting away from their registered polling stations.

Meanwhile, the vote – the first since the October 7, 2023, attacks and the Gaza genocide – was widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's premiership. The 77-year-old appears far from defeated, despite lacking a clear majority.

Netanyahu will remain caretaker prime minister until a new administration is formed. President Isaac Herzog will commence consulting party leaders concerning forming a new administration next week, once the official election results are published.

Herzog has pressed all parties to avoid another vote that would stall the formation of a administration. But coalition building is the norm in Israel, and no party has ever won an outright majority in the country's history.

Ahead of the vote, Eisenkot ruled out forming a minority administration with Arab-led parties. Netanyahu has additionally rejected such a prospect.

As Netanyahu's bloc is due to be the largest, analysts predict that he will form a unity administration that could include Eisenkot. Nevertheless, such an outcome is far from certain.

Eisenkot remarked in a post on X on Wednesday that his opposition alliance was now focused on the "heavy task entrusted to us – bringing change to Israel and establishing a Zionist mobilisation government".

"This is the will of the individuals who expressed no confidence in the administration of October 7th and the shirking, and in the bloc of shirkers in general. A bloc that is at the low point of two decades."

"The elections in the State of Israel were stolen by Arab parties that support terrorism and the elimination of the Jewish state through serious criminal offences of bribery, threats, violence, forgeries, and the use of prohibited software to mobilise voters, " the party remarked in an official note.

"The Likud party is transferring to the police, the Shin Bet, and the Central Elections Committee hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence regarding election theft in many Arab polling stations, " it remarked.

While cautioning that the final results were yet to be confirmed, israel's predominantly Arab Joint List political alliance remarked in an official note published late on Wednesday by Turkish news agency Anadolu that preliminary figures demonstrated Arab voter turnout played a decisive role in keeping Netanyahu and his coalition short of a parliamentary majority.

Voters answered incitement and intimidation at the ballot box, it remarked, rejecting a "government of butchers" and its policies of home demolitions, racism and war crimes.

Meanwhile, the Joint List remarked its electoral backing reflected demands for political unity and a force capable of defending Arab citizens' rights without concessions.

It pledged to work to remove Netanyahu's administration and prevent its return, saying it was ready to cooperate towards an alternative administration.

Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen remarked the alliance could back an anti-Netanyahu administration from outside, but would not join it.

For now, no clear winner in Israel election with nearly 90 percent of votes remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.