Israel may face several weeks of political battles, as exit polls and partial official results showed that neither Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition nor the opposition bloc led by former General Gadi Eisenkot secured enough seats to form a government. UNN reports this, citing The Guardian.
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Polls published by Israel’s main television channels show that Netanyahu’s ruling bloc either matched or nearly matched the opposition group led by Eisenkot, with each receiving approximately 51 seats—fewer than the 61 seats needed to form a majority coalition government.
By Wednesday morning, October 28, election commissions had counted more than half of the votes, and Netanyahu’s bloc was leading with 55 seats, though further changes are expected.
Speaking at 3 a.m. local time, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister promised to form a coalition through agreements between his Likud party, far-right factions, and Jewish religious parties.
"We must create a strong right-wing government," Netanyahu told his supporters, who cheered. "The Jewish and Zionist majority must unite."
Eisenkot, speaking to his supporters in Tel Aviv earlier in the evening, said that "the people have chosen in favor of change" and that Netanyahu should "announce today that he is leaving politics."
The elections, the publication writes, "were marked by record turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel, a discriminated-against minority that makes up about 20% of the country’s population." Many members of this group sought a stronger political voice after decades of boycotting elections in the Jewish state. Millions of other Palestinians living under Israeli rule in the West Bank and Gaza cannot vote, leading to accusations of apartheid, the publication notes.
Exit polls predicted that Palestinian parties could win about 18 seats, compared with 10 previously. However, their role in any coalition will be difficult. Netanyahu said it was "impossible" to have a government supported by Palestinian parties, while Eisenkot said that Arab parties did not meet the Zionist criteria for governing.
After more than half of the ballots had been counted, Israel’s Central Election Committee reported that 27 seats had gone to the Likud party and 21 to Eisenkot’s Yashar party, although this figure is expected to change significantly as official results come in. Under Israel’s electoral system, the number of seats can fluctuate sharply over fractions of a percentage point.
The elections were widely viewed as a referendum on the 77-year-old leader, who is separately wanted by the international criminal court (ICC) for alleged war crimes,and voter turnout stood at 77.7%, the highest figure since 1999.
Although Israeli television exit polls showed that support for Netanyahu’s broader religious-national coalition had declined, the deadlock could work in his favor, the publication notes.
The deadlock will allow the prime minister, the publication writes, to remain in power as a caretaker, while obstructing the opposition’s attempts to form a coalition and even to hold early elections. Previously, this led to elections being held one after another—between 2019 and 2022, Israel held five elections.
Earlier, exit polls showed that Eisenkot had won a narrow majority of the seats in the Knesset. Israeli exit polls are often revised after publication and are known for their inaccuracy, while the final vote count frequently fluctuates by several seats.
Opposition figures quickly called the exit polls a defeat for Netanyahu, who is embroiled in a lengthy corruption trial over charges he denies and has been accused of being unprepared for the Hamas attacks in 2023.
Another opposition figure and former prime minister, Yair Lapid, said: "Netanyahu’s bloc has suffered a crushing defeat. This is a complete collapse. The public told them to leave."
Netanyahu and several other parties attempted to keep the polling stations open after the set closing time of 10:00 p.m., but the Central Elections Committee refused. The prime minister publicly hinted that the "left and Arabs" were making efforts to steal the election, but the committee rejected this claim.
The campaign, feverish even by Israeli standards, as the publication notes, included Netanyahu posting a photograph of a nuclear explosion devastating Tel Aviv on the eve of the opening of the polling stations.
With more than 7 million people eligible to vote, voter turnout stood at 77.7%—approximately 9% higher than in the previous election—with a notable increase in the number of military personnel voting. There were also reports of tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad who had arrived to vote in recent days.