Exit Polls Show Gadi Eisenkot Bloc Ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu, No Majority in Israel

Exit polls, no majority

Exit polls released by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan showed a bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot winning 53 seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament, ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc with 50 seats.

The exit polls said neither bloc secured the 61 seats needed to form an outright majority government, leaving coalition negotiations as the immediate political task after voting.

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on France 2 that “Our course will not change,” whether the coalition led by outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wins or the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot takes victory.

Yair Golan urged a coalition with Arab parties to unseat Netanyahu, saying, “Netanyahu has lost. I can count to 120. 65 is more than 55. That’s how Israeli democracy works. Period,” in a post on social media.

Reporting for this section@globaltimesnewsABC

Arab votes shape deadlock

Al Jazeera projected Israel’s Arab parties could win a record 19 seats in the 120-member Knesset, with the Joint List and Ra’am projected to hold a record combined 19 seats. Mansour Abbas told Israel’s Channel 12 that “With the numbers we have now, there is no government,” as he said he hoped the final results would allow the anti-Netanyahu bloc, including his party, to reach the 61 seats required to form a government.

Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador, warned that creating a government might prove difficult because parties like Eisenkot’s promised not to form coalitions with Arab parties during the campaign, saying, “There’s a price to pay,” and that “the Arabs can’t be kept outside.” The Al Jazeera reporting also described Netanyahu’s campaign warning of surging voter turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel, with witnesses saying cars flying Likud flags drove through Jerusalem blaring the Islamic call to prayer and urging supporters to cast their ballots because “Arabs are voting”.

Reporting for this sectionAl Jazeera

Netanyahu calls for right-wing

Netanyahu told his supporters that “We must form a strong right-wing government,” while warning against any “government that relies on the support of Israeli Arabs,” as exit poll updates left his bloc short of the 61-seat majority. Al Jazeera reported that Gadi Eizenkot said the election was “an existential moment for Palestinian-Israelis,” linking the record turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel to a push for influence over “the systemic discrimination that they face.”

Al Jazeera also quoted Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, calling the election “an existential moment for Palestinian-Israelis,” and noting that the record turnout drew “even [voters] who would usually boycott elections.” The Al-Sharq al-Awsat reporting said the majority required to form a government was 61 of 120 seats, leaving “the identity of the next government open to complex coalition negotiations,” with Liberman rejecting relying on Arab parties to form a government.

Reporting for this sectionABCAl-Sharq al-Awsat