Nearly eight in ten Israelis went to the polls on Tuesday, more than at any election since 1999, and they produced a parliament in which nobody can easily rule. The vote was the first since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, and it was widely framed as a referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu’s long hold on power.
The broadcasters’ projections shifted as the night wore on. Early numbers put the opposition camp of former army chief Gadi Eisenkot slightly ahead, on 52 or 53 seats. Updated figures from Kan and Channel 13 then showed a dead heat at 51 apiece, while Channel 12 nudged the governing side to 52. Forming a cabinet requires 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. Once real ballots were counted, the picture tilted further: with roughly a third tallied, Netanyahu’s alliance led by 59 seats to 46, though partial counts in Israel often swing.
The decisive factor may be the Arab-led lists, projected to win 17 or 18 seats after turnout in some Arab towns came close to total. Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas said the right had taken a heavy blow and that he could work with Eisenkot. The challenger, however, had ruled out sharing a coalition with Arab lawmakers during the campaign, leaving outside support for a minority cabinet as one possible route.
Netanyahu, 77, addressed cheering backers in Jerusalem after 3 a.m. and called for a “strong government of the right” without declaring victory outright. In Tel Aviv, Eisenkot branded him a “caretaker prime minister” lacking public trust and said a repeat election would be a mistake. Investors seemed to welcome the uncertainty over Netanyahu’s future: the shekel gained 1.8% against the dollar.
