Exit polls show 51-51 split in Israeli Knesset

Israel’s 120-seat parliament faced a stalemate after voting closed on Tuesday, with initial data showing the two main camps evenly matched. Channel 13 broadcast updated figures indicating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-led coalition and the opposition group led by Gadi Eisenkot each held 51 seats. Neither side reached the 61 seats required to form an absolute majority. The remaining 18 seats were projected to go to unaligned Arab parties, leaving both major factions ten seats short of the necessary threshold.

Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff and head of the Yashar party, declared the result a decisive loss for the current administration. Speaking to supporters after polls closed, he stated that the projections revealed a "complete lack of confidence in Netanyahu and the October 7 government." Yair Lapid, another opposition leader, reinforced this view in a written statement. He called the outcome a "total collapse" and asserted that the public had sent the government home. Lapid warned that the Netanyahu bloc had suffered a "crushing defeat" despite the narrow margin in the exit polls.

Netanyahu’s allies quickly challenged the opposition’s interpretation of the data. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the celebratory reactions as "premature" on social media. He emphasized that Likud remained the largest single party in the parliament. Senior figures in the Prime Minister’s camp argued that final tallies could still shift the balance of power, suggesting the race was not definitively decided by the initial exit poll numbers.

Voter engagement reached 77.7 percent according to the Central Elections Committee, a figure that energized the crowd at Eisenkot’s watch party in Tel Aviv. Arab political leaders positioned their parties as potential kingmakers in the upcoming coalition negotiations. Mansour Abbas, leader of the United Arab List, told reporters that the mandate received would be transformed into a new political reality in the country.

Faten Gattas, a candidate for the Joint List alliance, addressed supporters at the party headquarters in Nazareth. She stated that high participation rates among Palestinian citizens of Israel were intended to block the return of Netanyahu’s nationalist coalition. Gattas declared that the group refused the occupation and racism, asserting they would remain in the political process. With no clear winner, analysts indicated that smaller parties would hold the decisive leverage as formal coalition talks begin in the coming days.