Israeli leader Netanyahu accused of using ‘ugly’ smear tactics to cling to power
What happened
Israel's election has produced no clear winner, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc fell short of a majority, according to The Hindu and Egypt Independent.
With 77% of ballots counted, Netanyahu's bloc held 54 of the 120 Knesset seats, against 49 for the opposition led by ex-military chief Gadi Eisenkot.
Arab parties are on course for a record 17 to 19 seats, depending on the count, and neither camp can reach 61 without them.
Opposition figure Yair Golan urged his bloc to work with Arab parties, but allies Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman oppose any government that relies on them.
Eisenkot said Likud has launched a coordinated campaign to delegitimise the results, citing Netanyahu's allegations of malfeasance by Arab-led parties, according to Middle East Eye.
Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen said any alternative to Netanyahu's government would have to negotiate with his party.
“It's already clear that Likud and Netanyahu have embarked on a coordinated, organised campaign seeking to delegitimise the results of the election”
Middle East Eye
Summary written by AI from 3 independent sources (The Hindu, Egypt Independent, Middle East Eye) and checked automatically against them for copied text and numbers that are not in the sources. How we work
Open on the live globe →Who reported it
- 2026-10-28 12:53 UTCThe Hindu via AFP · thehindu.com ↗
- 2026-10-29 10:43 UTCIraqi News via AFP · iraqinews.com ↗
- 2026-10-29 13:40 UTCEgypt Independent · egyptindependent.com ↗
- 2026-10-29 17:04 UTCMiddle East Eye · middleeasteye.net ↗
- 2026-10-29 17:26 UTCGuardian · theguardian.com ↗
- 2026-10-29 18:05 UTCCBC · cbc.ca ↗
- 2026-10-29 20:21 UTCBBC · bbc.co.uk ↗
- 2026-10-29 21:46 UTCMyJoyOnline same text as BBC · myjoyonline.com ↗
- 2026-10-29 23:11 UTCNYT · nytimes.com ↗
- 2026-10-30 01:12 UTCCNA · channelnewsasia.com ↗
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