Israel Election Results Live Updates: Exit Polls Show No Clear Winner
Jerusalem, October 28 - Israelis are bracing for weeks of political gridlock as exit polls and initial results show no clear winner in the national election. The close race between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line alliance and a bloc of opposition parties led by Gadi Eisenkot has set the stage for lengthy negotiations over the next government.
According to early Wednesday afternoon counts, election officials have tallied more than 70 percent of ballots, indicating that neither bloc will reach the 61 seats needed to secure a straightforward majority in the Knesset, Israel's Parliament. The votes counted so far, alongside exit polls, suggest that Netanyahu's coalition will receive about 54 seats, Eisenkot's bloc will get roughly 49, and the Arab parties will reach 17.
The uncertainty has sparked speculation about potential alliances and coalitions. Some of Netanyahu's allies are floating the idea that he could join Eisenkot and other centrists to form a broad unity government to stay in power. However, Eisenkot faces a dilemma of his own, having denounced Netanyahu as unfit to lead Israel while also objecting to partnering with Arab parties in a potential coalition.
The Arab parties, projected to win as many as 17 seats, could be Eisenkot's only path to toppling Netanyahu. In his post-election speech, Eisenkot pledged to build "a stable Zionist government," without explicitly mentioning the Arab parties.
Turnout in Tuesday's election, seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's far-right government, was the highest in at least a quarter-century. The final tally could take days, and lengthy negotiations could follow as political parties try to assemble a governing majority.
