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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to lose significant support to opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot in the Israeli election Tuesday, according to exit polls — but neither bloc was set to win enough seats to secure a clear majority.
Follow live updates on Israel’s elections for the latest news, results and more
The big story, however, was the huge gain for Israeli Arabs, who make up about 25% of the population.
They were on pace to score 17 seats, a huge increase.
Netanyahu’s Likud party had 25 seats, and his right-wing alliance had 50, according to the Kan 11 exit poll published after voting ended. That would be a massive drop from the 32 they currently hold.
Despite the drop, the party is still projected to get the most votes out of any other single party in the election, according to all major exit polls.
Meanwhile, the “Change” opposition is slated to win 52 to 53 seats.
Opposition parties currently hold 50 seats in the 120-member Knesset.
“If these are the final results, they would mark a victory,” Eisenkot said in a statement.
“Netanyahu’s bloc suffered a tough defeat,” added Yari Lapid, a fellow opposition leader. “This is a total collapse and the public told them to go home.”
At least 38 parties were running for the Knesset, leaving the minor players — especially Israel’s Arab parties — in a position to decide the future of the country as both Netanyahu’s bloc and Eisenkot’s bloc jockey for a majority.
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Both sides appeared to fall short of the 61 seats needed to elect a prime minister and form a government.
The Arab parties only held 10 seats in Knesset prior to the election, with Tuesday’s election seeing a high Arab-voter turnout compared to the 2022 election.
That could leave them as the kingmakers — if Eisenkot breaks a campaign promise and works with them.
“When you have Arabs at 17, you can’t disregard them,” Israeli journalist Attila Somfalvi said at the Israel Press Club’s election-night press center in Tel Aviv.
Retired Israeli Air Force Maj. Gen. Nimrod Sheffer, a candidate for the left-wing Democrats party that scored 9-10 seats in the exit polls, revealed on Tuesday that the anti-Netanyahu coalition had met with Arab leaders to discuss forming a new government together should the election results favor them.
It will take time to count the ballots as Israel officiates its elections the old fashioned way.
The official results will paint a clearer picture come Wednesday, but it could take as much as three weeks to a month for the winning parties to establish a coalition to set up a ruling government.
It will eventually fall on Israeli President Isaac Herzog to select a party leader he believes will win the majority of support in Knesset.
Herzog has three chances to tap a worthy candidate, but should the Knesset fail to rally around his pick, a new round of elections would be held.
Netanyahu will remain the country’s acting prime minister until a new premier is elected.
