Exit polls in the Knesset election on 27 October showed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc is losing its parliamentary majority. None of the main forces won the 61 seats out of 120 needed to form a government.
According to data from three leading Israeli television channels, the bloc of Netanyahu supporters won between 50 and 52 seats. The opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot — between 49 and 53. Arab parties are projected to have won 17–19 mandates — a notable increase compared with the previous Knesset.
Turnout was 77,7 percent — the highest figure since 1999. These are the first elections after the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023.
Netanyahu's Likud party, according to preliminary data, is losing ground and may win 24–27 seats instead of 32 in the outgoing Knesset. The opposition is led by Yesh Atid, the party of Gadi Eisenkot, a former chief of the General Staff.
The spread between the polls of different channels is significant: one of them, close to the government, gave Netanyahu's bloc a majority, while the main networks point to a deadlock.
The Arab lists may now become key players in coalition negotiations. Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas said the right had suffered serious losses and expressed readiness for dialogue with the opposition.
Eisenkot called the voting results an expression of no confidence in Netanyahu and the government after 7 October. Yair Lapid, a former prime minister and ally of Eisenkot, called the outcome a "crushing defeat" for the incumbent head of government.
The final results of the vote count, including ballots cast by military personnel, will become known in the coming days. So what awaits the country next?
Forming a coalition could take weeks or months, as has happened in the past. So far, neither bloc has a clear path to power without compromises that contradict campaign promises.
