The Latest: No clear winner in Israeli election, exit polls suggest, with Netanyahu's fate uncertain

Israel’s election ended Tuesday with no clear winner, exit polls indicate, likely setting off weeks of jockeying before a leader is declared. Exit polls released by major Israeli TV stations suggest that neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political bloc nor that of his main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, secured the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.

Israelis were voting in a tense national election widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's leadership since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the wars that have since shaken the Middle East.

Israelis vote for parties, which then form alliances to create a majority coalition. No single party has ever won a 61-seat majority in the 120-member parliament, known as the Knesset.

Opinion polls suggest a tight race, with no clear winner expected, setting the stage for weeks or even months of negotiations among around a dozen parties expected to win seats in the Knesset.

Here is the latest:

Official vote counts trickle in

The counts from Israel’s Central Elections Committee started trickling in early Wednesday morning.

With close to 10% of the 7.3 million eligible voters’ ballots counted, it reported 25.34% of the vote went to Likud, the party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and 16.6% to Yashar, the party of his chief rival, former military Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot. The count does not indicate how many seats each party will win in the parliament.

Netanyahu slams Arab parties and touts the Iran war in election night speech

The prime minister has called on Jewish parties to line up behind him.

Addressing exuberant supporters past 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, Netanyahu said that exit polls indicate his Likud will be the largest party in the next parliament. He listed Israel’s military accomplishments over the past three years and stressed his close ties with U.S. President Donald Trump while pledging to finish the job against Iran’s regime.

In a message aimed at his rivals, he said no government should be formed that relies on Arab parties.

Arab-led parties had a strong showing in Tuesday’s election and could be kingmakers as exit polls indicate Netanyahu’s bloc and his opponents are tied and both unable to form governing coalitions.

Netanyahu remains defiant after Israel’s election

The prime minister called for a “strong, right-wing” government in a defiant speech after Israel’s elections.

Netanyahu also slammed the country’s Arab-led parties, which exit polls suggested expanded their strength in parliament.

Exit polls suggested neither Netanyahu’s bloc, nor his opponents, earned enough seats for a parliamentary majority.

Cheers break out as Netanyahu arrives at party headquarters

Netanyahu supporters broke into whoops and applause as the prime minister walked onto the stage of the convention center in Jerusalem. Waving Israeli and party flags, they cheered and chanted before he spoke.

After Netanyahu began speaking, the riled up crowd intermittently chanted, sang and cheered. At one point the prime minister joined in one of the songs.

Israeli TV stations revise their exit polls

The polls published by the three major TV stations are now suggesting a slight increase in support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but still leaving him short of a governing majority.

The revised polls suggest that Netanyahu’s Likud Party will be the largest in parliament, with about 27 seats. But the broader bloc of parties led by Netanyahu and the bloc of parties led by his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, each captured about 51 seats in parliament, the polls suggest. Initial exit polls had indicated Eisenkot’s bloc had a slight edge.

A candidate needs 61 parliamentary seats to form a majority coalition government.

Arab-led parties won the remaining 18 seats, the exit polls suggested.

If official results, expected in the coming days, reveal a similar breakdown, Israel could face weeks of uncertainty as parties jockey for power.

Eisenkot delivers plea for national unity

In a speech early Wednesday, he pledged to form a government and promised “a new era of hope” for Israelis.

“Today, Israel went out to a referendum over the leadership that will lead Israel in the coming years,” Eisenkot said to cheers from supporters. “The people decided in favor of change.”

He warned Netanyahu “not to use Israel’s security for your political needs” while he is a caretaker prime minister, an apparent reference to reports that the Israeli leader was considering an attack against Iran in the sensitive days leading up to the elections.

Eisenkot says if he’s prime minister, he would work for all Israelis

Addressing an adoring crowd at his election event shortly after 1 a.m. local time, Eisenkot pledged that if he is the prime minister, he will serve those who voted for his centrist party and those who did not.

The leader delivered a simple, rousing speech as candidates for his list beamed behind him.

Likud minister says he’s cautiously optimistic about the polls

Amichai Chikli, minister for Diaspora Affairs for Israel’s government, said it was too early to celebrate the initial poll results but that the party was optimistic and had to be patient.

“One thing we know for sure, those who said Netanyahu is over, the Likud is over, celebrated too early,” he said.

Eisenkot receives a warm welcome from supporters

Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the anti-Netanyahu bloc, has entered a crowded hall of supporters.

Party members are clapping on the stage, and supporters are waving Israeli flags.

Eisenkot hugged a line of supporters on stage as he prepared to address the crowd.

Israeli election commission begins to release official results

The commission has published the first batch of official results. It says it has tallied just 2,670 of the more than 7.3 million ballots cast.

Ballots are to be counted throughout the night, with clearer results expected in the coming hours.

Ben-Gvir reminds supporters of all he has achieved after disappointing exit polls for far-right Otzma Yehudit

Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) leader and far-right Public Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir tried to revive spirits by reminding supporters of all he had achieved in the past four years to further his agenda, including passing a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis and worsening conditions for Palestinian prisoners.

A few hundred activists gathered in the nightclub in central Israel that the party had rented for the evening, waving flags and wearing shirts emblazoned with his face.

With his own theme song touting his love of guns, Ben-Gvir took the stage to wild applause despite most exit polls putting his party at six or seven seats.

Ben-Gvir denounced other members of Netanyahu’s coalition for immediately suggesting a unity government with his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, which the audience booed loudly.

“This is precisely the scenario we warned against — it is a terrible mistake,” Ben-Gvir said.

Candidate on Eisenkot’s slate says they are prepared for any scenario

Lian Polak-David projected about an hour and a half after the first round of exit polls came out Tuesday evening in Israel’s election.

The race isn’t over yet, but Polak-David said it was clear that voters massively supported a change in government. She said that the party was waiting for final results but confident it would get a mandate to govern from Israel’s largely ceremonial President Isaac Herzog.

“I don’t think there’s any chance we won’t be getting that mandate,” she said.

Herzog holds consultations with all the party leaders after the election and asks the candidate who appears most likely to form a coalition to do so. If that candidate is unable to assemble a majority within a maximum of six weeks, then others could be given a shot.

Polak-David added that the campaign had prepared various scenarios for forming a majority in government, adding that “all of these will be conducted behind closed doors and very swiftly,” she said.

Exit polls suggest ‘significant defeat’ for Netanyahu’s current coalition, expert says

Yohanan Plesner, the president of the Jerusalem-based think tank Israel Democracy Institute, noted that though early exit polls are just estimates and expected to change, it is clear that Netanyahu had a significant decrease from a coalition of 68 seats in the outgoing Knesset to around a potential 50 according to the polls.

“Netanyahu doesn’t have a realistic path for forming a coalition with the current parties,” said Plesner. He noted that Netanyahu’s Likud party lost nearly a quarter of its votes. “In an era of identity politics where people rarely change their minds and shift their allegiances it’s a pretty dramatic change,” he said.

But Plesner added that the exit polls also do not show a clear winner, with an Eisenkot-led coalition also appearing to fail to achieve the needed 61 seats for a majority.

Eisenkot ally cautions against reading too much into exit polls

Avigdor Lieberman, head of the “Yisrael Beitenu” party, told supporters that the final results could still change after hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots cast by on-duty soldiers are counted in the coming days.

But he said it was unlikely that many soldiers would support ultra-Orthodox parties, key Netanyahu allies or the Arab parties. He said there will be a “much clearer picture” later this week.

Lieberman is a staunch opponent of Netanyahu, but he also has said he will not sit in a government that includes Arab parties.

Elections committee numbers show voter turnout at over 75%

The final update from Israel’s Central Elections Committee put voter turnout at 77.7% of eligible voters by the time polls closed at 10 p.m. local time.

That’s the highest turnout at that hour since 1999, and just over 7 percentage points higher than at the same time in the previous election in 2022. The elections have seen high turnout all day.

Some Netanyahu supporters said it took time for people to vote

Netanyahu supporter Sinai Elmashli said it was challenging at the start of today’s election because people weren’t voting.

“The people didn’t go out, they didn’t leave their houses,” he said. He said that changed throughout the day as more Likud supporters voted.

For some Eisenkot fans, hope springs eternal

Stela Avidan, 66, looked delighted as other Eisenkot supporters around her greeted the exit polls with whoops and hollers.

She pumped her fists in the air, an expression of elation on her face. Asked if she was hopeful, she answered simply: “Yes, yes, yes, yes.”

Ra’am voters embrace Jewish law enforcement official running on the party’s list

Yoav Segalovitz might seem an unlikely candidate for an Islamist party in Israel’s election. The 67-year-old former police investigator is Jewish, not Arab or Muslim, and a self-identified Zionist.

But it looks like Segalovitz is headed to Israel’s Knesset after high Arab turnout drove a strong showing for his party, Ra’am. At Ra’am’s election night party, he was the only candidate to address the jubilant crowd in Hebrew. Supporters applauded enthusiastically as he appealed for unity across all races and religions. “We are all Israelis,” he said.

Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas’ gamble that his voters would embrace Segalovitz rather than reject his candidacy appears to have paid off. Segalovitz and Abbas have said they hope presence of a Jewish candidate on Ra’am’s list could make it harder to dismiss Ra’am as they consider whether to include Arab-led slates in Israel’s next government.

Supporters of ‘The Pink Front’ celebrate early results

Anti-Netanyahu activists, part of a leftist organization called The Pink Front, celebrated the early exit poll results.

Some waded into a reflecting pool waving their trademark pink heart flags, while others toasted with sparkling wine that drenched their pink T-shirts.

Eisenkot says he is ready to form a government

Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of the opposition bloc, said the election results pointed to a “complete lack of confidence” in Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition.

“I will act immediately to carry out the people’s mandate, replace Netanyahu’s government and form a Zionist government committed to military conscription as soon as possible,” Eisenkot said in a statement.

A former military chief, he made the issue of eliminating exemptions from military service for Ultra-Orthodox men central to his campaign.

No one party won the necessary 61-seat majority. It is not yet clear whether Eisenkot or Netanyahu, whose Likud party won more votes than any other party, will be tasked with forming the next government.

Atmosphere at Netanyahu’s party headquarters is uncertain

As initial poll results trickled in the atmosphere at Netanyahu’s party headquarters was uncertain.

The room of mostly media watched the Israeli news channels, as the few party supporters present said they felt Netanyahu had won and would be able to build a coalition.

“The coalition will be very strong,” said Golan Tsukrel a supporter.

Others held signs chanting Netanyahu’s name, draping themselves in flags with his face in it and kissing posters.

Jubilation at Eisenkot’s campaign event

As the first exit polls came in, a small group of Eisenkot voters watched a large screen at Eisenkot’s election campaign even and began jumping for joy.

They chanted “Eisenkot!” and waved flags as the jingle for Eisenkot’s party blared in the background. They hugged, some cried.

Center-left leader frames results as a victory for anti-Netanyahu bloc

Yair Golan, head of the Democrats, a center-left party that favors the establishment of a Palestinian state, said the election results amounted to the Israeli public having “fired Netanyahu’s government.”

The reality is more complicated. Netanyahu’s Likud party won more votes than any other party. But the bloc of parties running to unseat him, which includes Golan’s party, won more votes than the bloc of right-wing parties led by Netanyahu.

Still Golan framed the results as a victory for the opposition bloc.

“We are ready to work with all our partners, bridge the gaps and take responsibility,” he added in a statement. “The public has spoken. Now it’s our turn to do the work.”

Palestinian citizens of Israel ecstatic about early exit polls

Though exit polls showed no clear winner in Israel’s election, supporters of the small Arab-led party Ra’am erupted in celebration upon seeing them for the first time.

“MANSOUR! MANSOUR! MANSOUR!” supporters chanted as exit poll results appeared on a screen, applauding party leader Mansour Abbas at his election night event in Sakhnin.

The struggle to form a government could give Ra’am a kingmaker role as Netanyahu’s opponents try to assemble a parliamentary majority. Leading opposition figures have vowed not to partner with Arab-led parties like Ra’am. But Israeli politicians have reversed such pledges in the past to secure power.

Shock and disappointment at Otzma Yehudit party

There was stunned silence in the far right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) watch party in central Israel as results from the exit polls flashed across the screen, with most channels suggesting far-right Public Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir capturing around six or seven seats.

Activists had been hoping for numbers similar to or better than last elections, when Otzma Yehudit and the Religious Zionist party together captured 14 seats.

“I have no words,” said Ran Levy, a Ben-Gvir activist since he was 18. “I hope they’re wrong, exit polls always change, but I know you also have to be realistic.”

No clear winner in Israeli election, exit polls suggest, as Netanyahu’s fate hangs in the balance

Israel’s election ended Tuesday with no clear winner, exit polls indicate, likely setting off weeks of jockeying before a leader is declared.

An inconclusive result would leave Israel in political limbo after the country’s first national election since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The vote served as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wartime leadership.

Exit polls released by major Israeli TV stations suggest that neither Netanyahu’s political bloc nor that of his main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, secured the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.

Like all surveys, exit polls are subject to potential error. Preliminary results are expected in the coming hours. Final results are expected in the coming days and may vary from the exit polls.

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The polls have closed

Polling stations across Israel have closed, despite a request by Netanyahu’s Likud and other right-wing parties to extend voting past the planned 10 p.m. cutoff.

The election has seen high turnout all day despite some inclement weather, and the parties have headed to campaign events to watch the results roll in.

Still, the country may not know who its next prime minister is for weeks or even months.

Joint List hopes high turnout will help unseat Netanyahu

Supporters of the Joint List of Arab parties were hopeful that high turnout in Arab-majority cities would help them win more seats in Israel’s Knesset.

Former lawmaker Osama Saadi applauded how turnout was high among both Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel. But he echoed appeals from right-wing parties for supporters not to let up. At an emergency news conference, he urged people to keep voting up to 10 p.m.

The Joint List has made opposing the war in Gaza and settlements in the occupied West Bank centerpieces to its campaign. Those positions that could alienate Jewish-led parties and make it more difficult to form a coalition with them.

But party leaders have signaled they would consider supporting a government led by Netanyahu’s opponents from outside if that support were needed to oust the veteran prime minister.

“Our people are determined to sweep out this government once and for all,” Saadi said.

Netanyahu frames election as a ‘war’ with polls soon to close

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu framed Israel’s election as a “war for our home” in the final half hour of voting.

He made a plea for voters to immediately head to the polls, claiming his right-wing coalition could lose control of the government if more supporters don’t turn out.

“Call your grandparents, your aunt and uncle, your neighbors. If someone hasn’t gone, tell them there’s still time,” he said in a video posted to social media.

The stakes are high for Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. The election results could secure him another term, or likely end his political career.

Main candidates’ headquarters are still mostly empty

Less than an hour before polls were set to close, Netanyahu’s Likud party headquarters was mostly empty.

Journalists streamed into a convention center in Jerusalem where the party will gather to watch the exit polls when the voting ends.

A large screen aired Netanyahu’s campaign ads on repeat including some that mocked journalists. Others showed Netanyahu with U.S President Donald Trump. Signs hung from the wall with the party’s name in Hebrew. With no Likud members or supporters, some journalists began interviewing other media.

The headquarters of Netanyahu’s main rival, Gadi Eisenkot. was similarly lacking a crowd.

Eisenkot makes appeal in final stretch of voting

Less than an hour before polls close, Netanyahu’s chief rival for control of the government, Gadi Eisenkot, urged voters in a statement to choose “enlistment over draft evasion.”

A former military chief of staff who lost his son and two nephews in the war in Gaza, Eisenkot has made the issue of the exemption from the military draft for ultra-Orthodox men a central issue in his campaign.

Eisenkot also called for “responsibility over evading responsibility,” a not at all subtle nod to Netanyahu offloading blame for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks onto senior Israeli officials, rather than taking responsibility as prime minister for the deadliest day in Israel’s history.

Voter turnout remains high

The latest update from Israel’s Central Elections Committee puts voter turnout at 74.3% of eligible voters by 8 p.m. local time. That’s eight percentage points higher than at the same time in the previous election in 2022.

The elections have seen high turnout all day. In its update, the committee said the latest turnout figures were the highest since ones recorded at the same hour in 1988 elections.

One voter worries about high Arab turnout

One young voter, Michal Shiloh, was on the streets of Jerusalem helping to encourage last-minute voting for candidates like the far-right Bezalel Smotrich.

She and friends cheered for Netanyahu, but Shiloh acknowledged the high Arab voter turnout, “unfortunately.”

“We don’t want the government with the Arab people,” she said, reflecting a rightward shift among some younger Israelis.