:NOW Last updated 2026-10-27 19:00 UTC. Built from Al Jazeera, CNN, NBC News, Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, CNBC, Bloomberg, JFeed, Times of Israel, Al Jazeera explainer. :COUNTER 74.3% Voter turnout by 8 pm, highest at that hour since records began in 1973 :COUNTER 7.3M Eligible voters deciding the 26th Knesset :STATS [icon:CHART] Election date | October 27, 2026 [icon:CHART] Seats in Knesset | 120 total; 61 needed to govern [icon:TRENDING_UP] Turnout at 8 pm | 74.3% (5,449,277 votes cast) [icon:TRENDING_UP] Turnout at 6 pm | 66.7%, up from 57.7% at same hour in 2022 [icon:TRENDING_UP] Turnout at noon | 31.5%, highest noon figure since 1977 [icon:CHART] Exit polls expected | After 10 pm local (20:00 UTC) [icon:CHART] Final official results | November 4, 2026 [icon:CLOCK] Coalition deadline | 42 days after results certified :INFO What we know Voting ended at 10 pm local time (20:00 UTC). By 8 pm, 74.3% of eligible voters had cast ballots, already surpassing the total turnout for the entire 2022 election (70.6%) with two hours still remaining. The Central Elections Committee rejected a request by Likud, Shas and Amcha Yisrael to extend voting hours. Pre-election polls showed neither major bloc reaching the 61 seats needed. Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party led with a projected 22 seats. Netanyahu's Likud followed with 19 to 21 seats. The opposition bloc (Yashar, B'Yachad led by Naftali Bennett, the Democrats, Yisrael Beytenu) averaged 54 projected seats across four polls, against 49.5 for Netanyahu's right-wing and religious bloc. Arab parties were projected at 14 to 16 seats combined. High turnout is expected to raise the effective threshold for smaller parties: both Amcha Yisrael and the Reservists Party were near the 3.25% floor going in, and the surge in votes cast will require more raw votes to cross it. Arab voter turno :QUOTE [links:https://www.jpost.com/israel-election-2026/2026-10-27/live-updates-912992, quotetype:plain, subtitle:Gadi Eisenkot] The people of Israel have said: we want a change. The numbers show a record participation in democracy. :INFO The main parties and projections The election pits Netanyahu's right-wing and religious bloc against a broad opposition. Pre-election averages from four television polls (Kan 11, Channel 12, Channel 13, Channel 14) gave these seat projections: :STATS [icon:CHART] Yashar (Eisenkot) | 22 seats projected [icon:CHART] Likud (Netanyahu) | 19-21 seats projected [icon:CHART] B'Yachad (Bennett + Lapid) | 14-15 seats projected [icon:CHART] Democrats | 8-10 seats projected [icon:CHART] Joint List (Arab) | 9 seats projected [icon:CHART] Otzma Yehudit (Ben-Gvir) | 8 seats projected [icon:CHART] Yisrael Beytenu (Liberman) | 8 seats projected [icon:CHART] United Torah Judaism | 7-8 seats projected [icon:CHART] Shas | 7-8 seats projected [icon:CHART] Religious Zionism (Smotrich) | 6-8 seats projected [icon:CHART] Ra'am (United Arab List) | 5-7 seats projected :INFO The coalition puzzle The main path to a majority is complicated. Eisenkot's bloc of 54 projected seats is 7 short of 61. Adding Arab party seats (Joint List and Ra'am, projected 14-16 combined) would give him a majority, but Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman has said he refuses to serve in any government that includes Arab parties. Losing Beytenu's 8 seats would put the bloc back near the threshold. A separate scenario has the Reservists Party (4 seats, not pledged to either side) joining the opposition bloc for a 61-seat majority without Arab parties. Netanyahu needs a sweep of smaller right-wing parties staying in the Knesset and the Arab bloc staying out of any deal to have a path himself. :INFO Key issues driving the vote This election is widely described as a referendum on Netanyahu, whose rule has spanned most of the past two decades. The main voter concerns are: the conduct and cost of the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran; accountability for the failures of October 7, 2023; ultra-Orthodox military draft exemptions (a key issue for secular and centrist voters); Netanyahu's domestic criminal trials on fraud, breach of trust and bribery charges; an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Gaza; and judicial reform efforts that critics say eroded Israel's democratic institutions. Eisenkot, a former army chief who served in Netanyahu's war cabinet in 2023, supports a long-term Gaza ceasefire and vowed to remove Hamas from power within 18 months of taking office. :QUOTE [links:https://www.nbcnews.com/world/israel/israel-election-netanyahu-eisenkot-oct-7-west-bank-likud-trump-rcna604972, quotetype:plain, subtitle:Mairav Zonszein] The secular and liberal opposition factions in Israel feel this election is the last chance to save Israeli democracy and restore the institutions that have eroded over Netanyahu's successive terms. :TIMELINE 2026 Israel election: key dates 2023-10-07 | Hamas attacks Israel; Netanyahu forms emergency war cabinet including Eisenkot and Gantz. 2024-06-17 | Bennett and Lapid agree to form B'Yachad, entering the 2026 election jointly. 2026-04-26 | B'Yachad formally announced ahead of election campaign. 2026-10-27 | Election Day. Polls open 7 am local, close 10 pm local (20:00 UTC). 2026-10-27 | 8 pm: turnout reaches 74.3%, surpassing full-day 2022 total. 2026-10-27 | After 10 pm: exit polls broadcast by Israeli television channels. 2026-10-31 | Approximate date for near-final vote count. 2026-11-04 | Official publication of certified results. President Isaac Herzog consults party leaders; nominates candidate to form government. 42-day coalition deadline expires (if nomination happens shortly after Nov 4). :MAP 31.7683,35.2137,Jerusalem. Israel's capital and seat of the Knesset 32.0853,34.7818,Tel Aviv. Israel's largest city; economic and cultural centre 32.8191,34.9983,Haifa. Northern port city; third largest in Israel 31.253,34.7915,Beersheba. Largest city in southern Israel; high-turnout Bedouin areas nearby 31.5,35.25,West Bank. Occupied Palestinian territory; Israeli settlers vote in West Bank polling stations :INFO Turnout compared to previous elections Turnout in 2026 is on course to be the highest since 1999 and possibly the highest since 1973 when Israel was at war. By 8 pm local time, the 2026 election had already seen more votes cast than the total for the entire 2022 election. :STATS [icon:CHART] 2026 election (by 8 pm) | 74.3% [icon:CHART] 2022 election (full day) | 70.6% [icon:CHART] 2021 election (full day) | 67.4% [icon:CHART] 2019 Sept election (full day) | 69.8% [icon:CHART] 2015 election (full day) | 72.3% [icon:CHART] 1999 election (full day) | 78.7% :INFO What we do not know yet Exit polls were due after polls closed at 10 pm local time (20:00 UTC) but had not been published as of this update. Seat counts in the exit polls are estimates and do not indicate who will form a government. The coalition negotiations that follow results can take many weeks, and may not produce a stable government on the first attempt. It is not yet known whether any small party near the 3.25% threshold will make it in or fall out, which would shift seat totals significantly. The role of Arab parties in any coalition has not been agreed by any bloc publicly. :CHECKLIST What to watch next [ ] - 2026-10-27 after 20:00 UTC: Exit polls broadcast by Israeli TV channels (Channels 12, 13, 14, Kan 11). [ ] - 2026-10-28 onward: Overnight and next-day vote counts begin to clarify actual seat totals. [ ] - 2026-10-31 approx.: Near-final count expected. [ ] - 2026-11-04: Official certified results published by Central Elections Committee. [ ] - 2026-11-04 onward: President Herzog consults party leaders about preferred PM candidate. [ ] - December 2026 approx.: 42-day deadline for nominated candidate to assemble a coalition. [ ] - If no coalition: New election could be called; Netanyahu's government continues as caretaker. :LINK https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/27/israel-election-turnout-highest-in-50-years-as-voting-continues Al Jazeera: Israel election turnout highest in 50 years as voting continues :LINK https://www.jfeed.com/latest-news/voter-turnout-reaches-74-3-57197 JFeed: Voter turnout reaches 74.3% at 8 pm :LINK https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/27/world/live-news/israel-elections-live-results-latest-votes-intl CNN: Israel election live news :LINK https://www.nbcnews.com/world/israel/live-blog/israel-election-live-updates-netanyahu-eisenkot-voters-war-iran-gaza-rcna604979 NBC News: Israel election live updates :LINK https://www.jpost.com/israel-election-2026/article-912743 Jerusalem Post: Eisenkot leads Netanyahu but Knesset deadlock looms :LINK https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/26/israel-election-netanyahu-iran-gaza-palestine.html CNBC: Israel election puts Netanyahu's wartime leadership on the line :LINK https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/27/israel-election-results-2026-when-will-we-know-who-won-and-whats-next Al Jazeera: Israel election results 2026 - when will we know who won :LINK https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/25/israeli-elections-what-are-the-possible-outcomes Al Jazeera: Israeli elections - what are the possible outcomes :NOTE How we know this. Turnout figures (74.3% at 8 pm, 66.7% at 6 pm, 31.5% at noon) are from Israel's Central Elections Committee as reported by Haaretz, JFeed and Al Jazeera. Seat projections are averages from four pre-election polls broadcast by Kan 11, Channel 12, Channel 13 and Channel 14. Coalition pathway analysis draws on Jerusalem Post, Al Jazeera and Times of Israel reporting. Background on key issues (ICC warrant, judicial reform, Gaza ceasefire, October 7 accountability) is from NBC News,