Herzog to Begin Israel Coalition Talks

Israel woke up on Wednesday to an election with no clear winner, and its president has now set out how the argument over who governs will be settled. Our Israel election coverage follows every step.

President Isaac Herzog, whose office is mostly ceremonial but who picks the person asked to build a government, said he will receive the official results next week. He then plans to meet every party that won seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

• Who: President Herzog, caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ex-army chief Gadi Eisenkot.
• Count: With about 85% counted, Netanyahu’s bloc had 53 seats, Eisenkot’s 48, Arab parties 19.
• Bar: The Knesset has 120 seats, so a majority needs 61. No bloc is there yet.
• Next: Official results next week, no date given; Herzog then consults every party.
• Prediction markets: Polymarket puts Netanyahu at 48.5% and Eisenkot at 25.1% to be prime minister after this election (7:20 p.m. ET, 28 October 2026).

Why Herzog Moves Next

Israel does not hand power to the biggest party by rule. Herzog asks the person he thinks has the best chance of assembling 61 seats, after hearing from each faction.

That person then has 28 days under Israeli law, with a possible 14-day extension, to form a government. If they fail, the president can turn to someone else, and repeated failure can send voters back to the polls.

Herzog urged the parties to keep an open mind. “We must do everything we can, certainly after yesterday, to avoid another round of elections,” he said on Wednesday.

The Arithmetic Is Tight

Tuesday’s vote left neither side close to a majority, with about 85% of votes counted. Netanyahu’s conservative bloc had 53 seats, the opposition bloc led by Eisenkot had 48, and Arab parties had 19.

Both men say they can form the next government. Netanyahu stays in office as head of a transitional government until a new one is sworn in.

Roughly 500,000 to 600,000 ballots are still uncounted, according to the Central Elections Committee (the body that runs and certifies Israel’s vote). Many are “double-envelope” votes, cast away from home polling stations by soldiers, prisoners and diplomats abroad, and they are counted last.

Turnout was 77.7%, the highest since 1999 and about seven points above 2022, the committee said.

What the Markets Are Saying

The Israeli shekel fell about 2.2% to roughly 3.12 per US dollar on Wednesday. The TA-35, the Tel Aviv index of the 35 largest companies, fell about 1.8%, and the wider TA-125 about 2.5%.

Investors dislike open-ended coalition talks because budgets, defence spending and judicial changes can stall. For US holders of Israeli stocks and bonds, the next signal is the certified seat count.

What Prediction Markets Say

On Polymarket, a crypto-based betting platform, traders have put about US$78 million into the market on who will be prime minister after this election. Netanyahu trades at 48.5%, Eisenkot at 25.1% and Naftali Bennett at 4.0%.

A separate market on whether the result is a hung parliament, one with no majority, trades at 55.5%. Prices are bets, not polls, and were read at 7:20 p.m. ET on 28 October 2026.

Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.

What It Means for You

If you follow Israeli assets or US policy toward Israel, expect weeks of talks rather than a quick answer. The first hard dates are the certified results and Herzog’s consultation calendar, both due next week.

What Is Not Known

No one knows whether the uncounted ballots will move seats between blocs. The exact day for the official results has not been announced.

It is also unclear whom Herzog will ask first, and whether Arab parties would back or tolerate an Eisenkot-led government. Whether talks end in a government or a new election cannot be told yet.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will Israel’s official election results come?

President Herzog said on 28 October 2026 that he will receive them next week. No exact day has been announced.

How many seats does a coalition need in Israel?

The Knesset has 120 seats, so a coalition needs 61. With about 85% counted, no bloc had reached that mark.

Sources: Israel’s Central Elections Committee, the President’s Office, Polymarket.

Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error