Israel's Deadlocked Election Moves to President Herzog

Israel's election has ended in deadlock with no clear winner, and the results are due to be submitted to President Isaac Herzog on Nov. 4, 2026. Reports before that date said the figures could still see "minor corrections."

The presidency in Israel is mostly ceremonial, but the job changes after a national election. Herzog is responsible for assigning the task of forming a government, and he does so after consulting representatives of the parties elected to the Knesset, the national parliament. Those parties then recommend a candidate, and the chosen candidate must try to build a coalition, meaning a group of parties that together can command a majority. Former President Chaim Herzog, Isaac Herzog's father, once described the post as a "greatly misunderstood job."

Herzog has said that everything must be done to avoid another election, and he has urged the parties to approach the talks with an open mind, according to Reuters. Aides told Reuters that he will likely press for the broadest possible government, a coalition that includes as many parties as can be brought together.

Analysts quoted by the Times of Israel predicted that Herzog would try to push Benjamin Netanyahu and Eisenkot into a unity government, a arrangement in which rival leaders share power. Those predictions have not been confirmed by any decision.

The last precedent that many commentators have pointed to is from 1984. After that year's election, Shimon Peres and then-Likud leader Yitzhak Shamir were stuck in a deadlock, and Isaac Herzog's father played an active role in the process. Eventually the two men agreed to share power in a rotating arrangement.

For context, the previous election produced official final results showing Likud, led by Netanyahu, with 32 seats, and Yesh Atid, led by Yair Lapid, with 24 seats, according to the Central Elections Committee.