Netanyahu’s fate hangs in the balance as Israeli election deadlocks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot vowed to form a government on Wednesday after exit polls showed their rival blocs tied at 51 seats each, with neither securing the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset.
Revised projections by Israel’s public broadcaster and Channel 13 put Arab parties at 18 seats, up from an initial projection of 17, as voter turnout reached 77.7%, the highest since 1999 and 7.1 percentage points higher than in the 2022 election, according to the Central Elections Committee.
Channel 13 projected Netanyahu’s Likud as the largest party with 27 seats, followed by Eisenkot’s Yashar with 23 and former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s Together alliance with 13.
The Joint List was projected to win 11 seats and the United Arab List (Ra’am) seven.
The revised projections erased an initial lead for Eisenkot’s opposition bloc, which had earlier been projected to win 53 seats against 50 for Netanyahu’s camp.
Channel 12 initially gave the opposition 52 seats, compared with 50 for Netanyahu’s bloc and 18 for Arab parties.
Addressing supporters in Jerusalem early Wednesday, Netanyahu called for a “strong government of the right” and urged the “Jewish and Zionist majority” to unite.
He also said Israel had a “unique opportunity” to work with US President Donald Trump to eliminate what he described as the existential threat from Iran.
Eisenkot, a former Israeli army chief, accused Netanyahu of using national security for political purposes and described him as a caretaker prime minister without a mandate or public trust.
He said voters had chosen change and vowed to work swiftly to form a government, arguing that a second election should be avoided.
Arab parties made significant gains amid strong turnout in Arab Israeli communities, with key leader Mansour Abbas saying he was open to working with Eisenkot.
However, Eisenkot has ruled out governing with Arab lawmakers, while Netanyahu questioned the legitimacy of a government dependent on their support.
Arab lawmakers could nevertheless back an Eisenkot-led minority government in parliamentary votes without joining a coalition.
If efforts to form a government fail, Israel could face another election.
The vote was the first since the October 7, 2023, attack and followed years of divisive Netanyahu rule, military campaigns in Gaza and Iran, and escalating violence and settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
Official election results are expected on November 4. Exit polls are projections and do not constitute final results.