Israeli exit polls show hung Knesset as neither bloc reaches 61 seats
Netanyahu's bloc projected at 50 seats, Eisenkot's at 52-53; Arab parties on 18 seats hold potential balance of power.
Exit polls from Israel's general election on Tuesday night show no clear winner, with neither main bloc approaching the 61 seats needed to form a government.
Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc is projected to win 50 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, while the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot — former army chief and leader of the Yashar party — is projected at 52 or 53 seats. Arab parties are collectively projected to take 18 seats, potentially giving them a pivotal role in any coalition talks.
The Central Elections Committee rejected a request by Netanyahu's Likud Party to extend voting hours beyond 10pm local time (20:00 GMT). Voter participation reached 74.3 percent as of 8pm, compared with 70.63 percent in the 2022 election.
Preliminary results are expected on Wednesday, with a final tally on Friday. Official results are due on 4 November.
The vote is the first since Israel launched military operations in Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023, and is widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's handling of those events and the conflicts that followed.
Sources — how we know this
- PrimaryAl Jazeera English