Netanyahu Bloc Trails in Exit Polls; Neither Side Hits 61
(MENAFN) Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition fell behind its rival bloc in Tuesday’s exit polls, with neither camp reaching a governing majority. Opposition leaders immediately vowed to bring down his government, and the public broadcaster called him already “a major loser.”
“It is still unclear who won the election, but there is already a major loser: Netanyahu,” the broadcaster said in the headline of an analysis.
Following the first projections, Netanyahu began phoning coalition party leaders, Israeli media reported. A national newspaper reported that his Likud party told members to stop giving media interviews.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid labeled the projected result a “crushing defeat” for Netanyahu’s bloc.
“This is a complete collapse, and the public told them to go home,” he wrote on the US social media platform X.
Gadi Eisenkot, who leads the Yashar party, said the early projections reflected a “complete lack of trust in Netanyahu” and his government. If the numbers hold, he said, he would move at once to carry out voters’ wishes, unseat Netanyahu’s government and build one that puts military conscription first.
Yair Golan, head of the Democrats party, likewise said voters had turned the government out.
“The public has spoken. It has fired Netanyahu’s government,” he wrote on X.
“We have a historic opportunity to form a government that brings real change in Israel, and we will not give it up,” he added, pledging to work with his partners to bridge their differences.
Exit poll numbers: The public broadcaster and a commercial television network each projected 50 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc, 53 for Eisenkot’s and 17 for Arab parties in the 120-seat Knesset. A second commercial network projected 50, 52 and 18 seats, respectively. No bloc reached the 61 seats required for a majority.
That second network also reported that 80% of Arab voters turned out, calling the projected gains for Arab parties historic.
Overall turnout hit 77.7%, the highest since 1999 and 7.1 percentage points above the 2022 election, according to the Central Elections Committee.
Counting began after polls closed at 10 pm local time (2000GMT). Exit polls are projections, not official results.
“It is still unclear who won the election, but there is already a major loser: Netanyahu,” the broadcaster said in the headline of an analysis.
Following the first projections, Netanyahu began phoning coalition party leaders, Israeli media reported. A national newspaper reported that his Likud party told members to stop giving media interviews.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid labeled the projected result a “crushing defeat” for Netanyahu’s bloc.
“This is a complete collapse, and the public told them to go home,” he wrote on the US social media platform X.
Gadi Eisenkot, who leads the Yashar party, said the early projections reflected a “complete lack of trust in Netanyahu” and his government. If the numbers hold, he said, he would move at once to carry out voters’ wishes, unseat Netanyahu’s government and build one that puts military conscription first.
Yair Golan, head of the Democrats party, likewise said voters had turned the government out.
“The public has spoken. It has fired Netanyahu’s government,” he wrote on X.
“We have a historic opportunity to form a government that brings real change in Israel, and we will not give it up,” he added, pledging to work with his partners to bridge their differences.
Exit poll numbers: The public broadcaster and a commercial television network each projected 50 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc, 53 for Eisenkot’s and 17 for Arab parties in the 120-seat Knesset. A second commercial network projected 50, 52 and 18 seats, respectively. No bloc reached the 61 seats required for a majority.
That second network also reported that 80% of Arab voters turned out, calling the projected gains for Arab parties historic.
Overall turnout hit 77.7%, the highest since 1999 and 7.1 percentage points above the 2022 election, according to the Central Elections Committee.
Counting began after polls closed at 10 pm local time (2000GMT). Exit polls are projections, not official results.
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