Netanyahu claims mandate as partial Israeli vote count leaves bloc short of majority

Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc remained below a parliamentary majority in partial-count reporting from Israel on October 28, despite his claim to a mandate to govern. N12 reported 55 seats with approximately 52% of ballots counted; its headline gave 56 with half counted. The timing and reason for the difference were unclear.

Either figure would leave the bloc short of the 61 seats required for a majority, a threshold cited by Anadolu Agency. On N12’s figures, Netanyahu’s allies would need another five or six seats to reach that mark. These were partial-count reports, not a final election outcome.

The N12 headline assigned 49 seats to the change bloc and 15 to Arab parties. That would leave the change bloc 12 seats below a majority. In a separate update, with 51.8% counted, N12 put Likud on 27 seats and Yashar, led by Eisenkot, on 21.

Netanyahu nevertheless asserted that he had a mandate to form a right-wing government, Anadolu reported on October 28. He also argued against forming a government dependent on Arab parties and maintained that Likud was the largest party, while the final results were still awaited.

The partial-count reports followed exit polls that had also left neither major bloc with enough seats to command a majority. Anadolu’s October 27 report said Eisenkot’s bloc was ahead in three out of four polls, but that neither side had reached 61 seats.

In its October 28 report on revised exit polls, Anadolu put each of the two main blocs on 51 seats and Arab parties on 18. Middle East Eye separately reported 52 for Netanyahu’s bloc, citing Channel 12, and 19 for Palestinian-led parties. The reports did not establish whether those party groupings were identical.

N12 also reported turnout of 77.7%, describing it as the highest since 1999. Neither its partial-count figures nor the earlier exit polls established that either major bloc had secured the seats needed to govern.