Israel's election results could still change as officials count hundreds of thousands of special ballots known as "double envelopes", potentially affecting the parliamentary gains made by Arab parties and the balance of power between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the opposition, led by Gadi Eisenkot.

Preliminary results gave Netanyahu's bloc 53 seats, compared with 48 for Eisenkot's bloc and 19 for Arab-led parties, leaving neither major bloc with the 61 seats required for a majority in the 120-member Knesset.

However, between 600,000 and 650,000 special ballots could influence the final distribution of seats, particularly for smaller parties hovering around the electoral threshold.

What are double-envelope ballots?

Double-envelope voting is a mechanism used in Israeli elections to allow people who cannot vote at their registered polling stations to cast ballots elsewhere.

The system protects voter anonymity while preventing duplicate voting.

Unlike ordinary ballots, which are counted locally, double-envelope votes undergo additional verification and are processed during the final stages of the election.

Who can vote using double envelopes?

The system covers voters whose professional, medical or geographical circumstances prevent them from reaching their designated polling stations.

They include Israeli soldiers and military officers, diplomats serving abroad, hospital patients, medical personnel on duty, prisoners and detainees, and people with disabilities.

Israeli military personnel account for the largest proportion of these ballots, making their voting preferences particularly significant.

How does the system work?

Voters place their chosen party's ballot paper inside a standard blue envelope containing no identifying information.

That sealed envelope is then placed inside a larger outer envelope bearing the voter's personal details.

Election officials transfer the ballots to the Central Elections Committee, where they check the information against the national voter register to ensure the individual has not voted elsewhere.

Once verified, the anonymous inner envelope is separated from the identifying outer envelope and mixed with other ballots before counting.

If a duplicate vote is detected, the special ballot is invalidated and the case may be referred for legal proceedings.

Why could these votes change the results?

The large number of outstanding ballots could affect the allocation of Knesset seats, particularly among smaller parties close to the electoral threshold.

With each parliamentary seat requiring approximately 40,000 votes, shifts in party support could determine whether some parties enter parliament or lose representation.

The final count could therefore alter coalition calculations, although it would not necessarily resolve the political deadlock.

Could Arab parties lose seats?

Arab-led parties could see their parliamentary representation reduced despite the high turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Because Israeli soldiers account for a substantial share of double-envelope voters, and Palestinian citizens are largely exempt from compulsory military service, Arab parties traditionally receive a smaller proportion of these votes.

As the outstanding ballots are added to the national total, their overall vote share could decline, potentially costing them seats.

Ultra-Orthodox parties also tend to perform less strongly among double-envelope voters because of lower military participation.

However, the large number of Israeli reservists voting this year could make traditional patterns less reliable, complicating predictions about which parties might benefit.

When will the final results be known?

The double-envelope count might not be completed until Friday, 30 October.

Acting Central Elections Committee director Dean Livne warned that high turnout could mean more special ballots than initially anticipated, potentially delaying the count.

Until those votes are processed, the final parliamentary balance remains uncertain, including the extent of Arab parties' gains and their potential influence over the formation of Israel's next government.

As Israel's election results leave the country's political future uncertain, the backgrounds of the politicians competing for power reveal a history of migration from Europe, North Africa and other parts of the Middle East.

While many of Israel's leading political figures were born in Israel, their native origins trace back to countries including Poland, Lithuania, Morocco, Iraq, Germany and Moldova.

These backgrounds reflect successive waves of Jewish migration to Palestine encouraged by the Zionist movement, both before and after the establishment of Israel in 1948, and the historical divisions between Ashkenazi Jews of European descent and Mizrahi Jews with actual links in the Middle East and North Africa.

Among the politicians are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose family came from Eastern Europe, and his main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, whose parents emigrated from Morocco.

Other figures, including far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, and Palestinian politician Mansour Abbas, represent different backgrounds within Israel's political landscape.

Here is a closer look at their family histories and political careers.

Benjamin Netanyahu: Polish and Lithuanian

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister and leader of the right-wing Likud party, was born in Tel Aviv in 1949 and grew up in Jerusalem.

His paternal family traces its roots to Poland and Lithuania. His father, historian and political activist Benzion Netanyahu, was born Benzion Mileikowsky in Warsaw in 1910.

Netanyahu's grandfather, Rabbi Nathan Mileikowsky, emigrated with his family to British-ruled Palestine in 1920. The family subsequently adopted the surname Netanyahu, which Nathan had previously used when publishing articles.

His paternal grandmother, Sarah Lurie, was born in Lithuania in 1885.

Politically, Netanyahu has dominated Israeli politics for decades, serving multiple terms as prime minister since 1996.

He faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. He is also on trial in Israel on corruption charges.

Gadi Eisenkot: Moroccan

Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu's main challenger in the 2026 election and leader of the centrist Yashar party, comes from a Moroccan Jewish family.

Born in Tiberias in 1960, Eisenkot is the son of Moroccan immigrants. His father, Meir Eisenkot, was born in Marrakesh, while his mother, Esther, was born in Casablanca.

The family name is associated with Morocco's Jewish community, with members of the Azencot family historically holding leadership positions in Marrakesh.

Eisenkot spent approximately four decades in the Israeli military, eventually becoming chief of staff before entering politics.

His military background has been central to his political career, particularly as he seeks to challenge Netanyahu on questions of security and leadership.

Eisenkot's Moroccan ancestry also distinguishes him from many previous Israeli prime ministers, who have predominantly come from Ashkenazi Jewish backgrounds.

Naftali Bennett: American and Polish 

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was born in Haifa in 1972 to American Jewish parents who had emigrated from San Francisco.

His parents, Jim Bennett and Myrna Lefko Bennett, moved to Israel in 1967, following the June Arab-Israeli war.

Bennett's ancestors had previously migrated from Europe to the United States during the 19th century.

His family history includes roots in Poland, the Netherlands and Germany, according to genealogical research highlighted during a visit to the Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv in 2017.

Bennett served as prime minister between 2021 and 2022, heading a coalition that brought together parties from across Israel's political spectrum.

A right-wing politician, he opposes Palestinian statehood and supports the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

In the 2026 election, Bennett has been politically aligned with former prime minister Yair Lapid in efforts to challenge Netanyahu.

Yair Lapid: Hungarian and Yugoslavian

Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party and a former Israeli prime minister, comes from a Jewish family with Hungarian roots.

His father, journalist and politician Yosef "Tommy" Lapid, was born in Novi Sad in 1931, when the city was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It is now in Serbia.

Tommy Lapid survived the Holocaust as a child before emigrating to Israel in 1948.

His experiences during the Second World War and his subsequent career in journalism and politics became an important part of the family's public history.

Yair Lapid worked as a journalist and television presenter before entering politics, eventually serving as prime minister in 2022.

He has remained a prominent figure in the opposition to Netanyahu and has worked with Bennett in efforts to form an alternative government.

Avigdor Lieberman: Moldavian 

Unlike many of Israel's other leading politicians, Avigdor Lieberman was born outside Israel.

The leader of the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party was born on 5 June 1958 in Chisinau, then part of the Soviet Union's Moldavian Republic.

His parents, Lev and Esther Lieberman, belonged to the city's Russian-speaking Jewish community.

Lieberman emigrated to Israel in June 1978, aged 20.

His political career has been closely associated with Russian-speaking Israelis, many of whom arrived during successive waves of immigration from the former Soviet Union.

He has served in several senior government positions, including defence minister and finance minister, and has been a prominent critic of Netanyahu despite previously serving in his governments.

Yair Golan: German and Ukrainian 

Yair Golan, a former Israeli military general and leader of the Democrats party, was born in Rishon LeZion in 1962.

His father's family originated in Germany, while his maternal grandfather came from Ukraine.

His father, Gershon, fled Nazi Germany with his family in 1935, when he was four years old, and settled in British-ruled Palestine.

Golan spent decades in the Israeli military, eventually becoming deputy chief of staff, before entering politics.

He leads the Democrats, a left-wing Zionist party that forms part of the broader opposition to Netanyahu.

Itamar Ben-Gvir: Iraqi and Kurdish 

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir traces his family roots to Iraq and Kurdistan. Ben-Gvir, who leads the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, has spoken publicly about his family's origins.

In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, he said his father was of Iraqi Jewish descent, while his mother's family came from Kurdistan.

He also revealed that his family's original surname was Hanan before his father changed it to Ben-Gvir.

His mother was reportedly active in Irgun, a Zionist paramilitary organisation that operated in British-ruled Palestine before Israel's establishment in 1948.

Ben-Gvir built his public profile as a lawyer representing Jewish extremists accused of violence against Palestinians.

He has previous criminal convictions, including for supporting a terrorist organisation.

As national security minister, he has advocated policies including the expansion of Israeli settlements and the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, which he has described as "voluntary migration".

Bezalel Smotrich: Ukrainian and Lithuanian

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's far-right finance minister and leader of the Religious Zionism party, traces his family roots to Ukraine, Lithuania and other parts of Eastern Europe.

He was born in 1980 in the Haspin settlement in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights and grew up in the Beit El settlement in the occupied West Bank.

His surname is associated with the Ukrainian town of Smotrych, where his ancestors lived.

His maternal grandfather, Chaim Moshe Fein, was born in Panevezys, Lithuania, while another relative on his mother's side was born in Riga, Latvia, according to biographical information reported by Israel's Knesset Channel.

Smotrich has become one of the most prominent advocates of Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank.

His Religious Zionism party supports settlement expansion and policies strengthening the Jewish religious character of the Israeli state.

Mansour Abbas: Palestinian roots

Unlike the Jewish Israeli politicians competing for influence in the next government, Mansour Abbas was among Palestinians who managed to remain on their land following the Nakba of 1948.

Abbas, a dentist by profession, leads Ra'am, also known as the United Arab List, an Islamist party representing Palestinian citizens of Israel.

He has served in the Knesset since 2019 and became a prominent figure in Israeli coalition politics when Ra'am joined the government formed by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid in 2021.

It was the first time an independent Arab-led party had formally joined an Israeli governing coalition.

Abbas has focused much of his political programme on issues affecting Palestinian citizens of Israel, including organised crime, housing, public services and economic inequalities.

His approach has differed from that of other Palestinian political leaders who place greater emphasis on the Israeli's restrictive policies on Palestinians throughout Palestine.

Ahead of the 2026 election, Abbas included former police commander and centrist politician Yoav Segalovitz in second place on Ra'am's electoral list.