Jerusalem, 29 October, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s election results remained largely unchanged Thursday as officials began counting an estimated 430,000 to 480,000 double-envelope ballots, with 97.3% of votes tallied and the country’s political blocs still short of a clear governing majority. The day was dominated by allegations of Qatari interference in the vote.

A total of 5.54 million votes have been counted so far, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc with 53 Knesset seats, the opposition Change bloc with 48 and Arab parties with 19.

The Likud remained the largest party with 27 seats, followed by Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar! with 21. The Democrats won eight seats, while United Torah Judaism, Yisrael Beiteinu and Otzma Yehudit each secured seven. Shas and Religious Zionism received six seats apiece. The Joint List holds 11 seats and Ra’am eight.

Netanyahu stopped short of claiming victory in a speech at Likud headquarters, insisting that his party’s position and support for a Jewish state demonstrated a decisive right-wing majority among the Zionist and Jewish public. He called for a strong right-wing national government.

Eisenkot, meanwhile, urged Netanyahu to step aside, arguing that the results showed a stronger Zionist majority opposed to the prime minister. He warned that holding another election would be a mistake and accused Netanyahu of lacking a public mandate, cautioning security officials against allowing national security to serve political interests.

Thursday was overshadowed by allegations of foreign interference. Central Elections Committee Chairman and Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg sent a letter to Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) chief David Zini, calling for an investigation into suspicions of foreign funding and election bribery.

‘Serious Suspicions’

“Serious suspicions have been brought before me of improper influence on the elections through foreign funding from foreign entities operating against Israeli interests,” Sohlberg wrote.

Sohlberg acknowledged that he could not independently assess the allegations but said the possibility of foreign involvement warranted an investigation.

Likud called the affair an “earthquake,” declaring that Qatar and Turkey “stole the elections in Israel!” The party characterized the suspected activity as an attack on democracy. The party did not provide any evidence of Qatari or Turkish involvement.

The Joint List accused Likud of seeking to overturn Tuesday’s election results through racist incitement against Arab citizens.

Sami Abu Shehadeh, chairman of the party’s Balad faction, said the accusations against Arab political parties amounted to a “blood libel” intended to discredit the election outcome.

President Isaac Herzog called for an investigation.

“This is a sensitive moment, so let me be clear: The integrity of our elections is a supreme democratic value. The evidence and the allegations must be fully investigated, and those responsible must be arrested and held accountable according to the full extent of the law,” he said. “But even at a moment like this, we must not tarnish an entire community that sought to exercise its right to vote and take an active part in democracy.”