28.10.2026 — Election night 2026: vote counts flip to Netanyahu's bloc, Haredi parties stunned, coalition bargaining begins
Election results keep flipping all night The group was flooded overnight with real vote updates: early counts put Yesh Atid ahead, but by 06:00 the Likud led with 21.7% and by midday, after 84.6% of ballots counted, Netanyahu's bloc stood at 54–56 seats against 47–50 for the change bloc, with turnout at 77.7% — the highest in 25 years. @עורך ראשי דסק הסקופים relayed tally after tally as the picture inverted from the exit polls.
Pollsters take a beating The surveys badly missed the surge. @עורך ראשי דסק הסקופים shared Amit Segal's verdict that there is no statistical way to explain a 6-seat opposition lead flipping in 4 days, while Menou Givon was caught on air near tears reading the corrected numbers. Only Direct Polls for i24 came out looking right, and Eyal Berkovic publicly apologized to pollster Shlomo Filber:
"אני חייב התנצלות לסוקר שלמה פילבר - מוריד בפניו את הכובע"
UTJ sweeps Bnei Brak, Shas hurt United Torah Judaism celebrated a big win in Betar Illit with 64.3% of the vote, and Yaakov Asher declared:
"הספדתם אותנו. מה שהציבור אמר היום והצביע ברגליו ובידיו זה שהציבור החרדי הוא ציבור חי נושם גדול"But both Haredi parties settled around 7 mandates — @עורך ראשי דסק הסקופים passed on Dov Meir's report that Shas would even drop to 6, handing a mandate to Likud, and Yishai Cohen called the result Shas' most painful blow with harsh calls coming from the rabbinic courts. Meanwhile behind the scenes a flare-up erupted between the Hirsch and Lando rabbinic houses over a photo of Yaakov Asher with Tuvia Lando and David Shapira.
Coalition math and unity government talk With no bloc holding a clear majority, all eyes turned to kingmakers: @עורך ראשי דסק הסקופים reported Bennett alone with 7 seats could complete a government for Netanyahu, a senior UTJ figure said they'd bring any Lazer-mentioned enlistment-law offer to the spiritual leadership, and Herzog is pushing a unity government — with reports of a possible pardon deal for Netanyahu. The US is watching closely; Trump said the support for Netanyahu flipped everything, while world media saw a stalemate and the Guardian pointed at Ben Gvir as the loser. Double-envelope counting was set for midnight, with 430–480 thousand envelopes expected to hand Netanyahu's bloc at least one more seat.
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