No clear winner in Israeli election as polls show race headed toward stalemate, negotiations on forming government

Updated on: October 28, 2026 / 4:31 AM EDT / CBS News

No clear winner emerged in Israel's elections on Wednesday morning with the vote count still under way. Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition nor the opposition bloc, led by Gadi Eisenkot, secured a majority, according to exit polls on Tuesday night.

With 60% of the ballots counted, Netanyahu's Likud party secured 21.4% of votes and Eisenkot's Yashar had 16.2%, according to official election data.

One or the other would need to obtain majority support in Israel's 120-seat parliament, known as the Knesset, in order to form a government.

On Wednesday morning, the head of Israel's main left-wing party called for his opposition allies to work with Arab parties to unseat Netanyahu.

"We must no longer accept Netanyahu's racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes," Yair Golan said on X. "We have a responsibility. And we have an opportunity to form a government of change in partnership with Israel's Arab citizens."

Netanyahu dismissed the idea of partnership with Arab parties, instead calling on his allies to form a "right-wing, nationalist government."

"We must not endanger Israel and establish a government that relies on anti-Zionist Arab parties," Netanyahu said…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/