Israel's president begins consultations with parties after election deadlock

4 November 2026, 15: 45 GMT. Updated 1 hour ago.

Key points

• In the election on 27 October, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies won 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.
• Two Arab-led alliances, the United Arab List and the Joint List, together won an unprecedented 19 seats after a surge in turnout among Arab voters.
• On Wednesday morning, Herzog was presented with the official results by Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg at a ceremony in Jerusalem.
• Neither the bloc of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his rival Gadi Eisenkot secured a majority in parliament.
• Joint List chairman Yousef Jabareen accused Ben-Gvir and the prime minister of attempting to "steal the election from the public".

After he received the official results of a general election last week he stated had no clear winner, israel's President Isaac Herzog has begun consultations with political parties on whom to task with forming a new coalition administration.

Herzog informed party leaders that "not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled" if they want to avoid a new election.

Earlier, electoral authorities stated there was no evidence of irregularities and that unsubstantiated claims by Netanyahu's camp of Arab-led parties "stealing" the election did not justify delaying the results' certification.

For context, the Shin Bet security service is investigating allegations of foreign interference in the election, but the head of the Central Elections Committee stressed that they would not fundamentally change the outcome. Israeli opposition accuses Netanyahu of trying to 'delegitimise' election. How could Israel break election deadlock? Here are four scenarios. Israel's election deadlock is a sign of the country's deep divisions.

In the election on 27 October, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies won 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Eisenkot's centrist Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties in his bloc won 48.

That makes them potential kingmakers. Nevertheless, all but one of the Jewish parties pledged before the polls not to work with them to form a administration.

In practice, the role of Israel's president is largely ceremonial, but after an election they have the role of inviting a Knesset member to form a administration. That person will be given 28 days to do so, with a potential 14-day extension.

Meanwhile, the president has wide discretion to pick someone they believe has the best chance of building a coalition. They do not have to choose the leader of the party with the most seats.

"In recent days, we have heard voices trying to cast doubt on the election results and to undermine their legitimacy. This is a real danger, " Sohlberg remarked.

"One of the foundations of democracy is the ability to have a peaceful transfer of power. This stems from the understanding that the will of the electorate obligates us all."

According to Herzog, he would commence the consultation process on Wednesday evening.

"In order to prevent another round of elections and to build a stable and good government here for the people of Israel, I expect the factions and their representatives to understand that, in the current reality, not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled, " he remarked.

Meanwhile, the president additionally expressed confidence in the Shin Bet's ability to investigate the allegations of foreign interference in the election and appealed for patience.

But he cautioned that Arab Israelis – who produce up regarding one fifth of the population and often refer to themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel – "must not be smeared".

"I condemn the coarseness and racist expressions that we have heard lately. There is no place for them toward any community in Israel, " he remarked.

Earlier, Sohlberg informed a gathering of the Central Elections Committee that the Shin Bet's intelligence appeared to point to a "widespread phenomenon involving the influx of substantial funds into Israel from foreign states", some of which were hostile.

It believed further investigation was needed to "connect the dots and determine the scale of the phenomenon with a high degree of certainty", he remarked.

Last week, Israeli media documented that the committee had been presented with a claim that Qatar had provided funding aimed at increasing voter turnout in Arab communities. Qatar's foreign ministry remarked it categorically denied the allegation.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of the Jewish Power party and an ally of the prime minister, called on the Shin Bet to arrest all the leaders of Arab parties and interrogate them "until these suspicions are fully clarified".

On Tuesday, Eisenkot alleged that Netanyahu and his Likud party were "trying to carry out a veritable pogrom against democracy and the rule of law".

His comments came after Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara rejected a documented demand by Shin Bet chief David Zini – an appointee of the prime minister – to interrogate four Arab politicians, saying no evidence of wrongdoing had been presented.

Likud accused Baharav-Miara of trying to "obstruct the investigation and to cover up this serious case of manipulation of the electoral process by foreign actors".

For now, israel' s president begins consultations with parties after election deadlock remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.