Israel Election: Neither Leader Has Majority as Count Begins

Israeli voters left the polls Tuesday without handing either top contender a commanding lead.

As of Wednesday morning, more than 60 percent of ballots had been counted. Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, held the 61 seats required for a governing majority in the 120-seat Knesset.

Projections place Netanyahu’s bloc at 55 seats. This is a drop from the 68-seat coalition he led in the outgoing parliament. His Likud party remains the largest single party, but the loss marks a sharp decline in public support.

Eisenkot’s bloc is projected to secure 48 seats. He trails Netanyahu narrowly but also lacks a clear path to power. The opposition camp as a whole is on pace for roughly 65 seats, giving them a clear majority over Netanyahu’s faction.

The opposition faces internal friction. It spans right, left, and center factions. To oust Netanyahu, these groups will likely need to cooperate with Arab parties, which saw a record turnout. The Joint List and Raam party are projected to win a combined 17 to 19 seats, their strongest showing in history.

Netanyahu addressed supporters in Jerusalem early Wednesday. He claimed his bloc secured a decisive majority among the Zionist and Jewish public. He thanked President Donald Trump for support during the war with Iran. He also dismissed the idea of governing with Arab parties, labeling them anti-Zionist.

Eisenkot countered that the public voted for change. He called Netanyahu’s current government a coalition of failure that lost the people’s trust. He pledged to use all available power to establish a new government that represents all Israelis.

Arab party leaders celebrated what they called a historic shift. Yousef Jabareen, head of the Joint List, said the community sent the right-wing government to the dustbin of history. Mansour Abbas of Raam stated that the record-breaking results were driven by the current government’s neglect of the Arab community.

Nearly 5.7 million voters cast ballots out of 7.3 million eligible citizens. This resulted in a 77.7 percent turnout, the highest percentage since 1999, according to the Central Elections Committee.

The next step involves the president selecting one candidate to form a government. Based on current numbers, Eisenkot is likely to receive the first shot. He will have four to six weeks to negotiate a coalition. If he fails, Netanyahu may get a chance. If both fail, Israel could return to the polls.