Netanyahu or Eisenkot? Can you form Israel’s next coalition government?

What the report says

Israel’s October 27 election has left no clear winner, according to Al Jazeera, and the next government will again depend on coalition talks in the 120-seat Knesset. Early counting by the Central Elections Committee placed Likud as the largest party with 27 seats, while initial projections gave Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc a modest lead over the opposition aligned around Gadi Eisenkot, but neither side reached the 61 seats needed for a majority.

Al Jazeera said exit polls varied, with some showing the two main blocs nearly tied and others giving Netanyahu a small edge. The report noted that Arab-led parties Ra’am and the Joint List could become pivotal because their combined support may determine which side can assemble a governing majority. Even so, the article emphasized that political barriers remain significant, since leading figures across the spectrum have resisted coalition arrangements with those parties.

The outlet also outlined the bloc alignments: Netanyahu’s camp includes Likud, the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism, and the far-right Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit. Eisenkot’s side includes his Yashar party, the Together list linked to Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, Yisrael Beytenu and the Democrats. Once results are certified, Israel’s president will assign the task of forming a government to the lawmaker judged most likely to succeed. That person has 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, before the process can shift to another candidate or trigger another election if no coalition is formed.