Israel Election Exit Polls: Netanyahu’s coalition in narrow lead as Arab parties emerge as king in tight race | Today’s news
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot are contesting the country’s first elections since Hamas attacks in 2023. According to exit polls, there is no clear winner and no clear path to a governing majority.
Netanyahu’s Likud party appears to have won the most votes, the Associated Press reported. However, polls by major Israeli television stations show that support for his religious-national coalition has fallen significantly.
Pre-election polls show a tight race
Pre-election polls suggested that his opponents, led by Gadi Eisenkot, could secure a solid majority in the next parliament. But even the opposition will probably not have a clear majority to form the next government.
Pre-election polls show that both Netanyahu’s bloc and the opposition alliance are on track to win 51 seats in parliament. That would leave each party well short of the 61 seats needed to form a government with a parliamentary majority.
Advantage for Arab parties
This left the door wide open for disparate parties, including Arab-led parties, to play a key role in the next government formation. Pre-election polls show Arab-led parties on track to win 19 seats.
Netanyahu, who has allied himself with far-right and ultra-Orthodox religious parties in the past, including Jewish Power led by Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Religious Zionist Party led by Becalel Smotrich, two key members of his cabinet, has already ruled out any alliance with Arab organizations.
Netanyahu also warned earlier on Tuesday that Arab parties could hold or cancel the election, saying they were receiving “really massive support” and heading to the polls in “unprecedented numbers”.
Can Eisenkot cooperate with the Arab parties
Eisenkot, on the other hand, has indicated that he is ready to work with them under certain conditions, but this could risk alienating some of his partners.
A key Israeli Arab leader, Mansour Abbas, said he believed the right had “suffered a great loss” and was open to working with Eisenkot. Arab can also extend support to Eisenkot’s government from outside without joining the coalition.
But it would be a tightrope walk for Eisenkot, who shares many of Netanyahu’s views on security and has supported the Gaza offensive since the October 7 attack. If successful, Eisenkot, the son of working-class Moroccan Jewish immigrants, would become Israel’s first prime minister of Middle Eastern or North African descent.
What happens when coalition talks fail?
If neither party is able to form a coalition, new elections could be held early next year. Israel held five elections between April 2019 and November 2022 due to a similar stalemate.
No party has ever won an absolute majority in the country’s 120-member parliament, forcing political leaders to form coalitions. Minority governments are also possible, but must rely on the support or cooperation of parties outside the government to pass legislation.
