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Earlier on this story24 Oct: Israeli Channel 12 Poll Shows Gadi Eizenkot Camp 52 Seats, Netanyahu Camp 50, Arab Parties 142 more

Israeli Politicsupdated 33m ago2 min read

Exit Polls Show Gadi Eisenkot Bloc Ahead Of Benjamin Netanyahu As Israel Awaits Knesset Results

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Exit polls show a near tie between Netanyahu bloc and Eisenkot bloc, neither with a majority. Arab parties projected to win a record 17–18 seats, potential kingmaker in coalition talks.

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No Majority, Tight Race

Exit polls released by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan showed Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc 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 Israel awaiting results as votes were still being counted. Polls closed at 10 p.m. local time on Tuesday and the Israel Central Elections Committee said final results were not expected until Thursday.

Partial results suggested both coalitions would fail to secure a majority of 61 seats in the Knesset, and Netanyahu would remain caretaker prime minister while negotiations could last for several weeks. Israeli President Isaac Herzog would consult with party leaders and offer the chance to form a government to the leader he believes has the best chance of forming a government, usually the leader of the largest party.

Reporting for this section@globaltimesnewsABC

Netanyahu and Eisenkot

Netanyahu told his supporters, “We must form a strong right-wing government,” and he opposed any “government that relies on the support of Israeli Arabs,” whose parties made significant gains. Eisenkot told supporters at his party election headquarters that the vote marked the end of the Netanyahu era, saying, “We made history,” and adding, “The public decided in favor of change.” Netanyahu and Eisenkot both claimed a mandate from voters on Tuesday night, even as exit polls suggested neither coalition leader secured a Knesset majority.

Al Jazeera reported that Mansour Abbas said he hopes the final election results will allow the anti-Netanyahu bloc, including his party, to win the 61 seats required to form a government. Al Jazeera also quoted Abbas saying, “With the numbers we have now, there is no government,” before preliminary votes began trickling in.

Reporting for this sectionABCAl Jazeera

Arab Parties as Leverage

Al Jazeera projected Israel’s Arab parties to win 19 seats in the 120-member Knesset, after voting among Palestinian citizens of Israel surged to their highest levels in decades. Exit polling data suggested the Joint List and Ra’am could hold a record combined 19 seats, and the Joint List was winning over 9 percent of votes with more than one-third of votes counted. Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador, said creating a government might prove difficult because they promised not to form coalitions with Arab parties during the campaign, and he warned, “the Arabs can’t be kept outside and only being considered and co-opted when you need their votes”.

Netanyahu and his far-right coalition warned of surging voter turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel, and cars flying Netanyahu’s Likud party flags drove through Jerusalem blaring the Islamic call to prayer and urging supporters to cast their ballots because “Arabs are voting”. Both Netanyahu and Eisenkot had previously ruled out forming a coalition with the Arab parties, and the two coalitions may need the backing of the Arab-Israeli parties to secure a majority for their bloc in the Knesset if that outcome is reflected in official results.

Reporting for this sectionAl JazeeraABC