Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar finished second with 21 seats, six behind Likud. The two were the only parties to win more than 20 seats.
B’Yachad placed third with 12 seats, followed by the Joint List with 11. The Democrats and Ra’am each received eight seats. Yisrael Beteinu, Otzma Yehudit and United Torah Judaism each won seven, while Shas, Religious Zionism and Zehut each secured six.
Eleven lists cleared the 3.25% electoral threshold and will divide the Knesset’s 120 seats.
Together, parties in the current coalition bloc hold 53 seats. The change bloc has 48, while the Joint List and Ra’am account for another 19 seats, potentially giving the Arab parties a significant role in efforts to establish the next government.
Outgoing Opposition leader Yair Lapid, No. 2 in B’Yachad, declared victory for the anti-Netanyahu bloc.
“So we won,” he wrote on X. “It wasn’t a knockout; it was a win on points. But points count too. A win is a win.”
Lapid said the bloc, led by Yashar chair Gadi Eisenkot, would do everything in its power to form a government, although he said it would be “difficult” and success was not guaranteed.
In a speech Wednesday, Netanyahu declared that his bloc has a “decisive” majority and called for a right-wing government.
“Two things have become clear here. The first is unequivocal: Likud is the largest party in Israel. … And the second thing that has become clear… is that the right-wing bloc has a clear, decisive majority among the Zionist public, among the Jewish public and all those who support the Jewish state.”
He continued, “We must form a strong, national, right-wing government. That is what must be done. It is simply forbidden to endanger Israel and form a government that rests on anti-Zionist Arab parties.”
Likud called on Thursday for an investigation into alleged voter fraud among Arab parties, but Israel Police said it found no investigative or intelligence basis for the party’s claims of “vote theft.” Separately, Central Elections Committee Chairman Judge Noam Solberg instructed Shin Bet Chief David Zini to investigate suspicions that foreign entities unlawfully funded efforts to increase Arab voter turnout.
