Israel election produces no clear winner as Netanyahu falls short and Arab parties emerge as possible kingmakers

With more than 85 percent of ballots counted, Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc was slightly ahead but still short of a majority after Tuesday’s election, the first since the October 7, 2023 attack that led Israel to wage war in Gaza and across the region.

Both Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister allied with far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, and Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief leading a broad opposition bloc, said they would seek to form the next go