The Central Elections Committee announced Thursday that the count of external ballots—known as double envelopes—for the 26th Knesset elections has been completed. The vote-counting process is nearing its end, though the committee emphasized that results remain unofficial, with data entry, verification, and election integrity checks still underway.
According to updated data as of 2:55 PM, after counting roughly 97.3% of votes, Likud gains a seat and rises to 27 mandates, while Shas loses one and drops to 6. The Yashar party led by Gadi Eisenkot holds at 21 mandates, and Yachad remains at 12.
Updated Mandate Breakdown:
Likud – 27
Yashar – 21
Yachad – 12
Joint List – 11
The Democrats – 8
Ra’am – 8
Yisrael Beiteinu – 7
Otzma Yehudit – 7
United Torah Judaism – 7
Shas – 6
Religious Zionism and Zehut – 6
Parties remaining below the electoral threshold: HaMiluimnikim and HaKalkalit with 2.69% of votes, and Amcha Yisrael with 1.65%.
Bloc Picture
The current coalition stands at 53 mandates, the change bloc at 48, the Joint List with 11, and Ra’am with 8 mandates. Based on current numbers, neither of the two major blocs has the 61-seat majority needed in the Knesset.
The Elections Committee reported that results from 12,644 polling stations have been entered into the system so far, representing 5,589,836 votes. Of those, 5,564,764 are valid votes and 25,072 are invalid.
The committee added that roughly 10,000 workers participated in the double envelope counting operation, which took place in several facilities at the Knesset. Of the polling stations entered so far, 673 represent the distribution of rations as part of the counting operation.
Results from remaining envelopes have been transferred for data entry and verification, and once the process is complete, the Elections Committee is expected to release the results at a press conference at its control center.
The committee clarified, however, that even the results released after data entry is complete will not be final. An additional election integrity check will be conducted, and only on Wednesday are the official results of the 26th Knesset elections expected to be published.