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Geopolitics Status: Voting; results pending

Israel Votes in Its First Election Since October 7, With Neither Bloc Polling at 61 Seats

By AFNS Research Desk · · 1 min read

The Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem
Photo: Clema12 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

Status: Voting; results pending. Exit polls come out this afternoon CT, and official results are due November 4.

What's at stake

Today's vote is Israel's first election since October 7. Polls show Gadi Eisenkot's party competing with or ahead of Likud, and neither bloc on track for the 61 seats needed to govern. Netanyahu could stay in office for months while parties negotiate a coalition.

The final polls

  • Maariv (released October 23): opposition bloc 54 seats, Netanyahu's bloc 48, Arab parties 14. Neither side would reach 61.
  • Times of Israel: Eisenkot's Yashar party first with 23 seats, Likud second with 21. The poll came a few days after Trump endorsed Netanyahu.
  • Preferred prime minister: Eisenkot leads Netanyahu 49% to 41%.

What to watch

The exit polls, the official results on November 4, and coalition talks. For how the result could shape Israel's approach to Iran, see Iran turns up the pressure on Hormuz. See also the World Briefing for October 27.

Sources

  1. Euronews, October 27 www.euronews.com
  2. CBS News live updates www.cbsnews.com
  3. Anadolu: Maariv poll, 54–48 www.aa.com.tr
  4. Times of Israel: final ToI poll www.timesofisrael.com
  5. The National: Arab turnout and coalition options www.thenationalnews.com

See our sourcing & corrections standards.

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