JERUSALEM (The Thursday Times) — Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc nor the opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot is on course for a majority in Israel’s parliament, according to the first television exit polls released as voting ended on Tuesday night, with Arab-led parties projected to win enough seats to decide who governs.
Channel 12’s exit poll projected 52 of the Knesset’s 120 seats for the opposition bloc and 50 for Netanyahu’s bloc, well short of the 61 needed to govern. Channel 13’s exit poll gave a similar picture, with 53 seats for the opposition bloc, 50 for Netanyahu’s and 17 for Arab-led parties. Arab-led parties were projected to win 18 seats between them. These are exit-poll projections, not results, and they have missed by several seats in past elections.
The atmosphere at Likud’s headquarters in Tel Aviv was tense and the venue largely empty of activists and officials as polls closed, Israeli state radio reported.
Record turnout
Turnout reached 74.3 per cent by 8pm, two hours before polls closed, the highest in decades, according to the Central Elections Committee. The committee rejected requests by Likud and other parties to keep polling stations open beyond 10pm, saying there was “no justification”, though people already in line were allowed to vote. Netanyahu spent the day accusing Arab citizens of trying to “steal” the election, as turnout in Arab towns surged.
Arab parties in the balance
If the projections hold, neither bloc can govern without the Arab-led parties. Eisenkot has ruled out bringing them into a coalition, citing a lack of shared values, but analysts have pointed to a scenario in which they back an opposition-led minority government from outside to remove Netanyahu. Netanyahu has argued that Eisenkot cannot govern without them.
What next
The committee is expected to announce official results by Wednesday evening, Israeli state radio said, with the final tally due by Friday and results formally published on November 4. President Isaac Herzog will then consult the parties on whom to task with forming a government. Read our explainer on what happens next, our profile of Gadi Eisenkot and our polling-day report.
