About this election
Israel is required to hold elections to the Knesset, its 120-member parliament, by 27 October 2026 — the constitutional deadline for the term elected in November 2022 — though the vote could come earlier if the government falls or the Knesset votes to dissolve itself, a step that a large number of members have already signalled support for. It would be Israel's sixth election in roughly five years, against the backdrop of the war that followed the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023, deep divisions over the role of the judiciary and the ultra-Orthodox draft exemption, and questions about the political future of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader.
The Knesset is elected by closed-list proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency, one of the purest proportional systems in the world. Voters choose a party list rather than an individual, seats are allocated by the d'Hondt (Bader–Ofer) method, and the electoral threshold is 3.25% — about four seats. Sixty-one seats constitute a majority. Because the threshold is low and the country deeply divided, the Knesset is highly fragmented, no party has ever won an outright majority, and governments are always coalitions assembled after intense post-election bargaining. The President tasks the party leader judged most able to command a majority with forming a government within a set period.
Israeli politics is organised less around left and right economics than around competing blocs defined by attitudes to Netanyahu, religion and the state, and security. Netanyahu's Likud anchors a right-religious bloc that includes the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism and the far-right Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit. Opposing it is a heterogeneous camp ranging from the centrist Yesh Atid (Yair Lapid) and National Unity (Benny Gantz) to the secularist Yisrael Beiteinu, the centre-left Labor and the Democrats, and the parties representing Arab citizens of Israel (Hadash–Ta'al and Ra'am). New parties and realignments are likely, and polls since the war have suggested significant volatility, including the possible rise of figures associated with the security establishment.
The November 2022 election returned Netanyahu to power at the head of the most right-wing coalition in Israel's history.
| Party (2022) | Vote % | Seats |
| Likud | 23.41 | 32 |
| Yesh Atid | 17.78 | 24 |
| Religious Zionism | 10.83 | 14 |
| National Unity | 9.08 | 12 |
| Shas | 8.24 | 11 |
| United Torah Judaism | 5.88 | 7 |
Yisrael Beiteinu, Ra'am, Hadash–Ta'al and Labor also won seats; the left-wing Meretz and the Arab-nationalist Balad fell below the threshold, a result that helped tip the balance to Netanyahu's bloc, which secured 64 of the 120 seats.
The defining questions are whether Netanyahu and his bloc can retain a majority amid the fallout of the war and his ongoing corruption trial, how the conflict in Gaza and on other fronts shapes the security debate, and whether new centrist or security-focused parties reshape the opposition. The ultra-Orthodox conscription dispute, the cost of living, and the future of judicial reform — the issue that brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets in 2023 — are likely to be central.
Because Israel elects its parliament from a single national list, there are no constituency contests to map, but support varies geographically: Likud and the religious-right parties are strong in peripheral towns, settlements and among Mizrahi and religious communities, while the centre and left draw more from Tel Aviv and affluent central districts, and Arab parties from the Arab-majority towns of the north and the Negev. ElectioMap will display the national result and, where the Central Elections Committee publishes them, breakdowns by locality.
This page will show the live national vote share and the 120-seat allocation as counting proceeds, along with the all-important bloc arithmetic that determines who can form a government. Figures are sourced from Israel's Central Elections Committee, the body responsible for administering and certifying the vote.
Elections to the 120-seat Knesset must be held by 27 October 2026, the end of the term elected in November 2022. They could come sooner if the government falls or the Knesset votes to dissolve itself — a step many members have already backed.
By closed-list proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency, with seats allocated by the d'Hondt (Bader–Ofer) method and a 3.25% threshold (about four seats). Sixty-one seats are a majority; governments are always coalitions.
Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud anchors a right-religious bloc with Shas, United Torah Judaism and the far right. The opposition spans Yesh Atid (Yair Lapid), National Unity (Benny Gantz), Yisrael Beiteinu, Labor and the Democrats, plus parties representing Arab citizens. New parties and realignments are likely.
The vote follows the war that began with the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack, deep divisions over judicial reform and the ultra-Orthodox draft exemption, and questions over Netanyahu's political future and his corruption trial.
The Central Elections Committee reports preliminary results on election night, with the final allocation — including soldiers' and absentee ballots — confirmed within days. Live national figures and the bloc arithmetic will appear on this page as counting begins.
Compiled and reviewed by Bartłomiej Paruzel, Election Data Analyst, from official results. See our data methodology.