A woman wearing a headscarf puts a ballot paper in a ballot box in Israel's general election (27/1026)/Image source, Reuters
Image caption,

Arab parties could end up holding the balance of power

ByYolande KnellMiddle East correspondent, Reporting fromJerusalem
  • Published28 October 2026, 06:52 GMT
Updated 9 minutes ago

With results still trickling in, it currently appears that Israel's veteran Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has done better than was widely predicted with his Likud emerging as the largest single party.

His existing bloc with ultra-nationalist and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties appear to be just short of a 61-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament. However, analysts caution that this is subject to change because the early count was skewed towards areas known to have strong right-wing support.