Update: Israeli Exit Polls Show Likud Largest Party but No Bloc With a Majority
Three TV exit polls give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's allies 50 seats and the opposing parties 52 to 53, short of the 61 needed; official counting could run until Friday.
Learn more ›JERUSALEM, Israel —
Exit polls released when voting ended at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud as the largest party in Israel's 26th Knesset, but neither his bloc nor the parties opposing him near the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat parliament, the Times of Israel and Ynet reported.
See where this is ›Public broadcaster Kan gave Likud 25 seats and former army chief Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party 21. Channel 13 gave Likud 25 and Yashar 23, and Channel 12 gave Likud 24 and Yashar 22. All three placed former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's party third, with 12 to 14 seats.
In all three polls the parties backing Netanyahu won 50 seats, while the Jewish-led parties opposing him won 52 or 53. Arab-led parties were projected at 17 or 18 seats, which the Times of Israel said would be a record. The Reservists-Economic party and the People of Israel party appeared to fall below the 3.25% threshold needed to enter the Knesset.
See where this is ›Turnout was the highest in decades. By 8 p.m., 74.3% of eligible voters, more than 5.4 million people, had cast ballots, compared with 66.3% at the same hour in 2022, according to the Central Elections Committee. The Times of Israel said it was the highest figure at that hour since 1988.
Several parties reported irregularities during the day, including missing or defaced ballot slips. Netanyahu said, “they are trying to steal the election from us,” pointing to turnout among Arab and left-wing voters and to the arrest of three men police suspect of bribing voters for the Ra'am party, which called them “sham arrests.” Yashar answered that Netanyahu “is already laying the groundwork to challenge the election results.” The Central Elections Committee said it had found no evidence of systematic tampering with ballot slips and was handling individual reports right away.
Exit polls are projections, not results, and seat counts can shift as ballots are counted, especially for parties near the threshold. Ynet reported that more than 650,000 double-envelope ballots must be checked separately and that the committee has warned counting could run until Friday morning.
Learn more ›Once the final results are certified, President Isaac Herzog will consult every party entering the Knesset and then give the task of forming a government to the lawmaker he judges best placed to do it. Watchman News will report the official results.
