No majority yet as Israel tallies absentee ballots

By Nathan Morley

Israeli election authorities have begun counting nearly half a million absentee ballots that could affect the final outcome of Tuesday’s election.

The votes were cast by people unable to reach polling stations on election day.

With the count continuing, neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition nor the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot has secured the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority. Arab parties have emerged as potential kingmakers.

Speaking at his party’s headquarters in Tel Aviv, Eisenkot said Israelis had voted for change.

Netanyahu, speaking in Jerusalem, said his party remained the largest in parliament.

Israel now faces a period of political uncertainty. Analysts say the outcome could lead to lengthy coalition negotiations, a unity government or another election. 

On Wednesday, President Isaac Herzog said every effort must be made to avoid another round of elections.

Listen to the report by Nathan Morley {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "AudioObject","@id": "https://media.vaticannews.va/media2/audio/s1/2026/10/29/16/139334469_F139334469.mp3","name": "Audio","description": "Audio","uploadDate" : "2026-10-29T17:07:42.281+01:00","thumbnailUrl" : "https://www.vaticannews.va/etc/designs/vatican-news/release/library/main/images/audio-overlay.250.141.png"}