JERUSALEM — Israel's government-formation process formally began on Wednesday, November 4, when President Isaac Herzog received the certified results of the October 27 Knesset election and opened consultations with the parties on who should get the first mandate to form a government. The certified count leaves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc with 53 of the 120 seats, the opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot with 48, and Arab-led parties with a record 19 — so no camp has the 61 seats a majority requires, and no mandate had been announced by Wednesday evening.

Source: JFeed, Nov 4, 2026 (reporting JNS and Ynet)

Justice Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the Central Elections Committee (CEC), presented the results to Herzog at the President's Residence in Jerusalem at noon, JNS reported. The committee said its review of records from 9,069 polling stations found no evidence of irregularities that compromised the integrity of the election or affected its results, and it approved the results in a vote of 15 to 2, with 14 abstentions, on Wednesday morning. Turnout reached 5,717,397 voters.

Source: Crisis.Zone, Nov 4, 2026 (reporting JNS, Al Jazeera, the Times of Israel and AP)

The party-by-party count is: Likud 27, Eisenkot's Yashar 21, Naftali Bennett's B'Yachad 12, the Joint List 11, the Democrats 8, Ra'am 8, Yisrael Beiteinu 7, Otzma Yehudit 7, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) 7, Shas 6 and Religious Zionism 6. Herzog told the factions bluntly that compromise is unavoidable: 'In order to prevent another round of elections and to build a stable and good government here for the people of Israel, I expect the factions and their representatives to understand that, in the current reality, not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled.' He urged them to show 'originality and creativity, courage and goodwill', JNS reported, and noted that he holds 'very broad discretion' in choosing whom to task first.

A reversed consultation order — and Eisenkot ahead on recommendations

In a departure from custom, Herzog is hearing the factions in ascending order of size, starting with the smallest, which his office said is meant to allow 'a broader examination of coalition options and encourage fresh thinking'. Religious Zionism, Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu were scheduled for Wednesday; UTJ opens Thursday's sessions at 8:30 a.m., Yashar comes shortly before the end, and Likud closes the round at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Ynet reported.

Ynet's tally of the recommendations Herzog is expected to receive puts Eisenkot ahead, with 48 — from Yashar, B'Yachad, the Democrats and Yisrael Beiteinu — against 46 for Netanyahu, from Likud, Otzma Yehudit, Shas and Religious Zionism. The Joint List, Ra'am and UTJ have not committed. Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Liberman, B'Yachad leader Naftali Bennett and the Democrats' Yair Golan have each said they will recommend Eisenkot. But the arithmetic has a catch: Eisenkot would reach 67 recommendations only if both Arab parties also backed him, and all but one of the Jewish parties pledged before the vote not to work with the Arab parties to form a government. A unity government and a minority government both remain among the possible outcomes.

Certification came with a fight over the result itself

Sohlberg warned at the ceremony that casting doubt on the results poses 'a real danger' to Israeli democracy, and Herzog said: 'The election is over, and now it is time to face reality' — noting that November 4 is the 31st anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. Netanyahu and his allies have claimed without evidence, AP and Al Jazeera reported, that Arab-led parties 'stole' the vote. The Shin Bet security agency is examining suspicions that foreign money entered Israel to sway voting in Arab communities; the Jerusalem Post named Qatar and Turkey as examples of the entities under suspicion, and Qatar's foreign ministry has categorically denied paying to boost Arab turnout. Herzog condemned 'the coarseness and racist expressions that we have heard recently' and said Arab Israeli voters 'must not be smeared'. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir urged the Shin Bet to detain every Arab party leader for questioning, while Joint List chairman Yousef Jabareen accused Ben-Gvir and Netanyahu of trying to 'steal the election from the public'.

Source: JFeed, Nov 4, 2026 / Crisis.Zone, Nov 4, 2026

Qatar has formally rejected the suggestion that it interfered in Israel's election — read our earlier report on Doha's denial. Qatar denies Israel election interference claim

What happens next: the mandate is likely to be handed out sometime from Friday through next Tuesday. Herzog has seven days from the formal announcement of the results to assign the task, which sets a deadline of November 11, though he can act sooner and has not ruled out a second round of consultations. Whoever he chooses will have 28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension; if that attempt fails, the president can name another candidate, and if that also fails, any group of 61 Knesset members can nominate someone — failing all of that, Israel would hold a new election early next year, AP and Al Jazeera reported. The new Knesset is expected to be sworn in on November 10 regardless of the coalition talks, the Jerusalem Post reported. For scale: Netanyahu took 58 days to form a government after the November 2022 election, AFP noted.