Israel Election: Netanyahu and Eisenkot both fall short of majority, show exit polls

The first Israeli general election since the October 7 attacks has left nobody with a clear victory in the polls. Initial results show that both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc and opposition alliance led by ex-military chief Gadi Eisenkot have fallen short of the 61 seats required to govern.

Netanyahu’s bloc were predicted to gain 50 seats in the 120 seat Knesset, down drastically from the 68 seats the prime minister currently holds in the outgoing parliament. Eisenkot’s bloc were predicted to gain 52 seats whilst the Arab parties are predicted to gain a record 18 seats.

No clear winner

As a party or coalition needs to gain at least 61 seats to create a majority government, neither of the main parties have gained enough seats. This suggests there will be a long time of coalition building.

The election had the highest voter turnout yet since at least 1999. The counting of votes is expected to take place soon after the polls close and official results are expected within 48 hours.

What happens next?

Coalition talks may take days or even weeks to finalise depending on how the final results look. This is just an early prediction. However, further results showed the race remains incredibly tight.

This is a huge political blow to Netanyahu who is set to lose 18 seats. However it does leave Eisenkot’s camp without any immediate mandate either.