Netanyahu and Eisenkot Blocs Tied at 51 Seats in Israeli Election Exit Polls

Exit polls broadcast by Israel’s Channel 13 show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-led coalition and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot tied at 51 seats each in the 120-seat Knesset. The projections, released on October 28, indicate neither camp has secured the 61 seats required for an absolute majority.

The Central Elections Committee reported a voter turnout of 77.7 percent for the election. Under the updated figures, unaligned Arab parties are expected to hold 18 seats. This leaves both major camps 10 seats short of the threshold needed to form a government independently.

Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff and head of the Yashar party, addressed supporters after voting closed. According to the AFP news agency, he stated that the initial projections showed a “complete lack of confidence in Netanyahu and the October 7 government.” Opposition leader Yair Lapid issued a statement calling the result a “crushing defeat” for the Netanyahu bloc. Lapid added, “This is a total collapse and the public has told them to go home.”

Netanyahu’s allies pushed back against the opposition’s early declarations. Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister, dismissed the statements as “premature” on social media. He noted that Likud remained the largest single party in parliament and suggested final results could shift the balance.

Leaders of Arab political factions emphasized their potential influence in upcoming coalition negotiations. Mansour Abbas, leader of the United Arab List, told reporters, “We will transform the mandate we received into a new reality in the country.” At the Joint List alliance headquarters in Nazareth, candidate Faten Gattas told supporters that high participation among Palestinian citizens of Israel aimed to block the return of Netanyahu’s nationalist coalition. Gattas said, “We refuse the occupation and racism, and we will remain here,” according to the Reuters news agency.

Supporters at Eisenkot’s watch party in Tel Aviv cheered as the projections came in. With neither camp reaching a governing majority, the outcome depends on the smaller parties that will begin formal coalition talks in the coming days.