Israel election: Netanyahu’s bloc leads partial count, but neither side has a majority
Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc nor the opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot is on track for a majority in Israel’s Knesset, exit polls and partial official results showed Wednesday, the BBC and the Guardian reported. With about 70% of votes counted, Netanyahu’s bloc had 54 seats, short of the 61 needed to govern. These are preliminary results; the count is not finished, and about 600,000 absentee ballots will not be fully counted until Thursday.
The partial count: With about 70% of the vote, or 4 million ballots, counted by 11 a.m. local time, Netanyahu’s bloc had 54 seats, Eisenkot’s Change bloc had 47 and the two Arab parties had 19, the Guardian reported, citing official figures. Netanyahu’s Likud party had 27 seats, the largest of any party, according to the Guardian and Ynet.
The exit polls: When polls closed Tuesday night, two Israeli broadcasters projected 51 seats each for the two blocs, and a third gave Netanyahu’s bloc a lead of three seats, the BBC reported. Turnout was 77.7%, the highest at that hour since 1999, the Central Elections Committee said, according to the BBC. Exit polls have differed from final results in past elections.
Both sides claim ground: Eisenkot said his camp had “made history,” while Netanyahu told supporters his right-wing bloc had a “great majority” and called for “a strong, right-wing national government,” the BBC reported. The Arab parties, projected to win a record number of seats, could be pivotal, but only one opposition party has openly backed working with them in government, according to the BBC.
What happens next: Once final results are confirmed, Israel’s president will consult the parties and invite the leader he believes has the best chance to form a coalition, a process that could take weeks, the BBC reported. If that fails, Israel would ultimately have to hold another election.