Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition bloc is running neck and neck with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s camp, with neither side securing a clear path to power, according to multiple exit polls.
Pollster Direct Polls projected 55 seats for the Netanyahu bloc, 49 for the opposition bloc led by Eisenkot and 16 for Arab parties.
Kan 11, Israel’s state-owned television broadcaster, revised its exit poll projections, giving the pro-Netanyahu and anti-Netanyahu blocs 51 seats each. Its earlier projections had put Netanyahu’s camp at 50 seats and Eisenkot’s bloc at 52.
Another polling agency, Filber, projected 60 seats for the Netanyahu bloc, 43 for the opposition and 17 for Arab parties.
None of the three projections gave either side the 61 seats required for a majority in Israel’s 120-member Knesset, raising questions over who could form the next government.
Netanyahu dismissed the exit poll projections, asserting that the right-wing bloc enjoyed a “significant, decisive majority” among Jewish voters and those who support a Jewish state.
He also ruled out forming a government dependent on Arab parties, describing them as anti-Zionist. Netanyahu alleged that some of these parties supported Hamas and had called Israeli soldiers “murderers and war criminals”.
“It is simply forbidden that we should endanger Israel and establish a government that leans on Arab parties that are anti-Zionist,” he said.
Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, has also ruled out forming a government with Arab parties. However, he claimed that the election results reflected a rejection of Netanyahu’s government.
“The Israeli public has voted against Netanyahu’s service as Israel’s prime minister ... a worthy leader would have accepted the people’s non-confidence and announced today his retirement from politics,” Eisenkot told his supporters.
Meanwhile, final figures released by the Central Elections Committee put national voter turnout at a historic 77.7 per cent, up from 70.6 per cent recorded at the same hour during the 2022 election.
With neither bloc projected to command a clear majority, coalition negotiations could prove decisive. If no viable government can be formed, Israel may have to return to the polls.
