Israel’s Election: A Victory Without a Majority, and the Price Is the Whole Country

The parliamentary elections to the Knesset, which took place on October 27, 2026, have formally ended. The vote counting is over, and now Israeli parties are preparing for complex coalition negotiations. However, the main question in Israeli politics – who will lead the country – remains unanswered.

Voting Results: Arithmetic That Does Not Add Up to a Government

The opposition bloc, led by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and his party Yeshar, had to settle for 48 seats. But the real sensation of the campaign was the historic result of the Arab parties: the Joint List and Ra’am together won a record 19 seats. Voter turnout reached almost 78%—the highest since 1999. The result: neither of the two main blocs can form a government on its own, and the Arab parties, which both camps had solemnly promised before the election to keep out of power, found themselves in the position of kingmakers.

The Price of Power: How Netanyahu Used the State to Win

Two weeks before voting day, the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, issued a ruling that laid bare the mechanics of the incumbent prime minister’s campaign. He found that Benjamin Netanyahu had violated the election propaganda law five times by using state resources and his position as head of government for personal political purposes.

In one instance, Netanyahu posted a video from his visit to an IDF military base in southern Lebanon. Sohlberg determined that footage that actually boosted soldiers’ morale had been cut from........

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