Final Israeli election results confirm Netanyahu coalition has lost its majority

BBC One West led with the knife-edge exit polls and then moved to voter voices in Jerusalem, including Netanyahu supporters and market traders. Its later reports stressed that Likud was the largest party but that neither bloc could reach a majority, with Arab-led parties potentially holding the balance. The coverage mixed national election analysis with local West of England news.

ITV framed the vote as a referendum on Netanyahu's survival, with dramatic reporting from rival headquarters and a focus on security consequences. It highlighted that Likud might be largest while a majority voted against his coalition, and later reported opposition accusations over Qatari interference. It also stressed Netanyahu's caretaker powers, including the option to restart war on Iran.

Sky News treated the result as a fluid, uncertain contest, with studio panels and Yalda Hakim in Jerusalem weighing minority government, another election and Netanyahu's instinct to stall. It gave space to a former Netanyahu chief of staff and a British rabbi, linking the vote to antisemitism and diaspora concerns. Adam Parsons reported from Likud headquarters as supporters waited for Netanyahu.

Newsnight turned to extended studio analysis with Lyse Doucet and Jonathan Freedland, casting the vote as a referendum on Netanyahu and a possible lopsided win for the opposition plus Arab parties. It focused on Netanyahu's reputation as a tactician, the taboo of relying on Arab parties and the foreign policy stakes in Iran and the West Bank.

BBC News carried the fullest rolling account, from exit polls through partial counts to the confirmed final result. It foregrounded the Arab parties as potential kingmakers, Netanyahu's unproven claims of foreign interference, and the president's role in choosing a formateur. Its analysts ranged across coalition maths, West Bank policy and regional security.

Channel 4's short bulletin gave the election only a brief summary, noting there was still no clear winner and that Likud was likely to be the largest party but unable to govern without a coalition. It emphasised that Netanyahu would remain caretaker prime minister during negotiations.

GB News gave a compact roundup of the deadlock, stressing record turnout, Likud as the largest single party and Arab-led parties holding the balance of power. It contrasted Netanyahu's call for a strong right-wing government with opponents' claim that Israelis had voted for change.