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(68)Arab voters turn out in record numbers but entering government will still be tricky
Supporters of Israel’s Arab Joint List party celebrated at its election headquarters in Nazareth, with Arab parties projected to gain a record number of seats from Tuesday’s election.
Party leader Yousef Jabareen commended a strong turnout among the community, saying it was “unprecedented and historic in our Arab society.” Arab voters make up about 20% of the Israeli electorate, but have traditionally voted at lower rates than Jewish Israelis.
That voter surge was driven by an urgent desire to dismantle Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, which includes hardline ministers such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
That sentiment was underscored by chants of “Ben-Gvir, go home” at the Joint List election headquarters.
Jabareen said exit polls showed Arab-led parties can “make a difference.”
He vowed to be a “safety net in the face of crime in our society, a safety net in the face of dangerous racism, a safety net in the face of the demolition of homes and entire villages.”
Context: Entering government could still be tricky for Arab parties. Between them, the Joint List and Raam are projected to secure 17-19 seats in the 120-seat Knessett, their strongest showing in history.
Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party is projected to win 21-23 seats.
However, Eisenkot has set conditions for any partner to join his government, including recognizing Israel as a Jewish state and recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization that must be dismantled, terms most Arab lawmakers are unlikely to accept.
Moreover, two of his opposition allies – Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali Bennett – have ruled out forming a government with the Arab parties altogether.
Trump says he hasn't spoken to Netanyahu, but heard "he's doing pretty well"
US President Donald Trump said early Wednesday he hadn’t yet spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but seemed optimistic about his performance in the election as the vote count is underway.
“I’m hearing that he did very well, and it’s pretty close,” he said, speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Just over a week before the polls opened in Israel, Trump called Netanyahu a “Great Warrior Prime Minister” in a Truth Social post, offering his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”
Exit polls so far suggest Netanyahu’s bloc lost its majority in the Knesset – though it is narrowly in the lead over the opposition. Trump suggested that the exit polls might be wrong, however.
“He might be winning, or tied,” he said. “It’s a little bit early, but I’m hearing that in Israel, top people are saying, ‘Wow,’ he did a lot better than people thought.”
The final result could be “a stalemate or a win – but we’ll find out,” he added.
Netanyahu's party loses seats, but nobody has an outright majority yet. Here's the latest
It’s the early hours of Wednesday morning in Israel, and the election – one of the most consequential in years – is over. Now begins the real work of counting votes and forming a government.
It’ll take several days to finalize the vote count, but exit polls indicate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party has taken a blow – though there’s not yet a clear winner with an outright majority.
Here’s what to know:
- Netanyahu stumbles: Netanyahu’s bloc of ultra-Orthodox and far-right allies has lost its majority, and is projected to collapse from 68 seats in the Knesset to 52, according to the exit poll from Channel 12 News. His Likud party will still be the largest single party, but the results represent a crash in public support.
- ‘Decisive majority’: Speaking in Jerusalem early Wednesday, Netanyahu said the results still showed his bloc had the support of a “decisive majority among the Zionist and Jewish public,” despite the loss in seats. He slammed Arab parties as “anti-Zionist” and rejected the idea of working with them to form a government. He also thanked US President Donald Trump for his support in the war with Iran.
- Opposition bloc: Netanyahu’s biggest rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, is narrowly behind, with his bloc projected to secure 49 seats. “The public has voted for change,” he said. But he doesn’t have a clear path to a governing majority yet, either.
- Arab parties surge: Arab parties Joint List and Raam are projected to win a record 19 seats – the largest Arab representation ever. They could play a key role in building a coalition to form a new government. But what that could look like remains unclear.
- Record turnout: Nearly 5.7 million voters cast their ballot out of approximately 7.3 million eligible voters – meaning a turnout of 77.7%, the highest percentage since 1999, according to the Central Elections Committee.
- What’s next: Once the votes are finalized, each elected party will recommend their choice for prime minister to the president, who will select one person to try to form a government – based on who has the best chance of building a viable coalition. The way things look now, that will likely be Eisenkot, who will have four to six weeks to negotiate with other parties and try to cobble together a majority in the Knesset. But he could also fail, and Netanyahu could be given a chance to try. If he fails too, and if the Knesset cannot put forth another candidate, Israel could hold elections all over again.
- Why this matters: This election has been widely viewed as a referendum on Netanyahu, and whether Israel keeps moving in the nationalistic, conservative and religious direction – or changes course. For many voters, this is the first chance to pass judgment on the leadership that presided over October 7 failures, and to decide who should lead the country in conflict.
After a critical election, the ultimate outcome will take time to become clear
Israel’s elections produced no clear winner Tuesday night, exit polls showed, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main rival Gadi Eisenkot within reach of the 61 seats needed for a governing majority in the 120-seat parliament, the Knesset.
The three main Israeli TV Channels – 11, 12 and 13 – projected Netanyahu’s bloc at 51-52 seats, marking a steep drop from the 68-seat coalition he led in the outgoing Knesset. His Likud party is still projected to be the largest party, with 25-27 seats.
But Israeli politics is all about building coalitions – not being the biggest party – and Netanyahu’s path to staying in power is now unclear.
Read the full story here.
Why exit poll numbers are only part of the story in Israel’s election
The release of the exit polls is a key moment that gives the first indications of what the results may be as the polls close. But they are only exit polls, trying to approximate a final result with imperfect information.
And as we saw very early Wednesday morning, they can be wrong.
The initial results projected that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc slightly trailed the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot. But in the ensuing hours, Netanyahu’s bloc either tied or slightly surpassed Eisenkot’s. He also opened up a gap between the two individual parties, with his Likud several seats ahead of Eisenkot’s Yashar.
Crucially, neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot declared outright victory. Both men projected strength and a path forward but stopped short of saying they had won. They simply don’t know if they had.
As the official vote count gets underway, the exit polls become less relevant. Now, the Israeli public is waiting on real results. Those are expected sometime late Wednesday or early Thursday. And it will take several more days to officially certify the results.
So why does anyone pay attention to the exit polls at all? Because they give the first indication of what the results may be. It’s just not always the right results.
Eisenkot supporters' desire to oust Netanyahu outweighs traditional alliances
As election results began trickling in late Tuesday, Gadi Eisenkot supporters who had gathered at the Yashar party campaign headquarters expressed an openness to aligning with Arab parties to form a government.
For these voters, their desire to unseat Netanyahu outweighs anything else.
Among them were Yigal and Racheli Raz, who emphasized their vote for Eisenkot was a vote for change.
“We are sure that Gadi will do what will be the best for our country, and if it will be that we connect with the Arabs, so that’s it,” Yigal said.
Racheli said co-operation with Arab parties was “not a deal breaker” if it meant Israel could have a new government. “We have to make a change in Israel, we have to,” she said. “We can’t stand it any more.”
“We will prefer that he will connect with other Zionist parties, but if it doesn’t succeed, there is always another option, and that option will be to somehow to connect with the Arab parties and to make change,” Yigal said, adding: “What we are saying is that we trust Gadi, that he will do what’s the best for our country.”
For context: Neither Netanyahu’s right wing bloc or the Eisenkot-led opposition bloc can reach a 61-seat majority on their own. Meanwhile, Arab parties, are forecast to win a record 19 seats according to exit polls. Netanyahu’s bloc will not cooperate with the Arab parties; several figures in the opposition bloc have also ruled out cooperation.
Exit polls shift slightly to Netanyahu, but he’s still well short of a majority
Exit polls from Israel’s three main pollsters shifted slightly toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, putting him tied with or slightly ahead of the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot.
Israel’s Channel 12 News put Netanyahu’s bloc of right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties at 52 seats, according to its latest update to the exit polls, while the Eisenkot-led bloc dropped to 49 seats. The Arab parties strengthened by one to 19 seats.
The poll also suggested Netanyahu’s Likud party opened up a lead over Eisenkot’s Yashar party, 27 seats to 21 seats.
But Netanyahu is still well short of a majority of 61 seats needed to declare victory, the exit poll still indicated. Eisenkot is also short of an outright majority, needing to cooperate with the Arab parties in order to oust Israel’s longest-serving leader.
Both Channel 13 and Channel 11 News found in their exit polls that the Netanyahu bloc was tied with Eisenkot’s bloc at 51 seats apiece. The Arab parties held 18 seats, the polls indicated.
Netanyahu thanks Trump, and God, for making him Israel's leader
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked many of his supporters in his speech early Wednesday, among whom he counted US President Donald Trump and God.
“Together with our great friend President Trump, we are determined to eliminate this threat once and for all,” he said, referring to Iran and the ongoing war.
He also thanked members of his Likud party, other government and coalition partners, his wife and children, and Israel’s soldiers.
“Finally I’d like to thank the creator of the world, which is giving me the power to continue to act for the eternity of Israel and our beloved nation and state – our only state,” he said at the end of his speech.
“I’d like to say to you, we made it against our enemies and we will form the future … do not be afraid, Israel, do not be afraid. The lion will roar … The people of Israel is alive.”
Netanyahu touts "decisive majority" among Jewish Israelis despite election setback
Speaking early Wednesday morning after exit polls indicated he had the largest party in the Knesset but no governing majority, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the results still showed his right-wing bloc had the support of a “decisive majority among the Zionist and Jewish public.”
“There are two things that are clear. The first thing is that the Likud is the largest party in Israel … there’s no doubt about it,” he said, speaking from the party’s Jerusalem headquarters.
“The second thing that’s been made clear is that the right bloc has a major decisive majority among the Zionist public, a decisive majority, and that’s why I’ve said, and I say again, we must esta+blish strong national governments, right (-wing) government,” he said.
He slammed the Arab parties as “anti-Zionist,” claiming they “support the destruction of Israel,” and rejected the idea of working with them to form a government. Arab parties are projected to gain a record number of seats.
“These are Palestinian parties, or anti-Zionist parties, who support the destruction of Israel. We cannot have this scenario,” he said.
Remember: Exit polls show Netanyahu’s bloc is tied with or just slightly ahead of the opposition bloc, with 52 seats versus 49. But that’s still far lower than the governing majority Netanyahu would need – and represents a collapse in public support, down from the 68 seats he previously commanded.
Netanyahu expected to speak soon at his party HQ
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to speak soon at his Likud party HQ in Jerusalem.
Exit polls point to both his coalition and the opposition falling short of a majority.
We’ll bring you the latest from Netanyahu as we get it.
Eisenkot says Israel 'voted for change' but stops short of declaring victory
Gadi Eisenkot says Israelis have voted for change, even as exit polls show his bloc only holds a narrow lead over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.
But he stopped short of declaring outright victory over Netanyahu, cautioning that it’s “only exit polls, and we need to wait for final results.”
Eisenkot said he would act with “all our power to establish a government,” and that his party intends to represent all Israelis. “I will act together with my partners. That decisive vote of the people will be made possible to establish a stable government for all. This is crucial time for it,” he said.
Addressing members of the country’s security apparatus and civil service, he said, “Netanyahu has no mandate and trust,” before addressing the Israeli prime minister directly.
Eisenkot closed his speech by thanking his campaign and family.
“I believe in the people of Israel and in this country. We will write a new chapter,” he said.
Netanyahu supporters stay hopeful despite polls suggesting bad night for Israeli PM
As polls emerged suggesting voters have delivered a rebuke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, supporters of his Likud party at the headquarters in Jerusalem have been seeking out the positives.
Itzik Segev, a long-time Likud voter, remained optimistic about the results, even though the main exit polls showed support for the country’s longest-serving leader collapsing.
Only the exit poll for Channel 14, which is considered a mouthpiece for Netanyahu, predicted Netanyahu on the cusp of victory. But it seemed not many were convinced, even if they hoped the outlier poll was correct.
Nili Naouri focused on exit polls showing Likud emerging as the largest party, even if Netanyahu didn’t have a majority. “I came here to watch the results, there are mixed feelings. I’d prefer to see a sweeping victory for the right - but the night is still long,” Naouri told CNN.
Meanwhile, Yoav Kisch, a Likud lawmaker who served as the Minister of Education, said on X, “To all those who are starting with suggestions for ‘the first thing that needs to be done’ - wait for the true results.”
What role could Arab parties play after the election?
Arab parties Joint List and Raam are projected to win a record 18 seats – the highest Arab representation ever.
That voter surge was driven by an urgent desire to dismantle Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, which includes hardline ministers like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
The Arab parties could play a key role in building a coalition to form a new government. But what that could look like remains unclear.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc is projected to hold 50 seats. But he has explicitly ruled out forming a government with the Arab parties. To form a majority in the Knesset, he needs 61 seats.
Meanwhile, Gadi Eisenkot — whose opposition bloc is projected to hold 52 seats — has said these parties do not meet his requirements for forming a government, which include recognizing Israel as a Jewish state and recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization that must be dismantled.
Still, a survey from the Hebrew University’s aChord Center shows a majority of opposition bloc voters keen to see that partnership come together.
More than 61% of opposition bloc voters want Eisenkot to form a government with Raam, the survey said. Only 20% of those voters said they prefer new elections, while 12% said they favor a rotation government with Netanyahu and 7% prefer a government with ultra-Orthodox parties.
We have the exit polls. What happens next?
While the exit polls give an early indication of what may happen next, the real contest begins once the votes are counted and the coalition building process begins. It can take weeks, or even months, for a winner to emerge.
Once the vote count is final, usually within a few days, the president holds a round of consultations in which each elected party recommends their choice for prime minister.
Based on these talks, the president then tasks one candidate with forming the government. This is not necessarily the leader of the largest party, but rather the one who has the best chance at building a viable coalition.
The way things look right now, the incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to be selected because neither the opposition bloc nor the Arab parties will recommend him.
If that is the case, President Isaac Herzog is likely to give the first opportunity to form a government to Gadi Eisenkot.
He would have four to six weeks to negotiate with other parties over cabinet posts, budget priorities and policy, trying to cobble together a majority in the Knesset. If the exit polls turn out to be correct, the two Arab parties will play a key role in this process.
A survey conducted this evening by the Hebrew University’s aChord Center found that a majority of those who voted for the opposition bloc want Eisenkot to form a government with Raam, one of the two Arab parties.
If Eisenkot was to fail – a real possibility given his relative inexperience – the another candidate, most likely Netanyahu, would be given a chance by the president to form a government and the whole bargaining process starts again.
If he was to fail too, the Knesset itself gets a short window to put forward another candidate, and if it cannot - the country goes to new elections.
So winning is not only about votes and seats, it’s about building - and maintaining - a viable coalition.
October 7 families say exit polls show “clear majority” for a state commission of inquiry
Bereaved families and survivors of the October 7 attack on Tuesday welcomed the exit poll results, calling them a clear public verdict in favor of a state commission of inquiry into the security and intelligence failures that led to the Hamas-led assault on Israel three years ago.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to appoint such a commission, which is Israel’s highest investigative body, and has not accepted responsibility for the deadliest day in Israel’s history, in which over 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 were kidnapped to Gaza. In sharp contrast, all the parties in the opposition bloc have expressed support for establishing such a commission. Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s main challenger, has pledged that it would be his government’s first decision if elected.
The October Council, a grassroots group representing bereaved families and survivors, said the projections show “a clear majority” of 70 lawmakers in the next Knesset.
“These elections were about truth, about responsibility, and about establishing a state commission of inquiry into the October 7th massacre,” the group said in a statement. “The citizens of Israel have spoken, and it is time for elected officials to do what is incumbent upon them.”
The council urged all party leaders and candidates who made a commitment to act to establish a commission on the first day of the new Knesset “without delays and without condition,” even before a government is formed. “There is no reason to wait for coalition agreements, the distribution of portfolios, or political negotiations. Establishing a state commission of inquiry is not a prize for the winners of the elections and is not a bargaining chip between parties. It is a national, moral, and historical obligation of the State of Israel toward its citizens,” the group said.
Netanyahu is facing a "crash" in support, prospective member of parliament says
Today’s exit polls suggest the Israeli public has lost trust in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a prospective member of parliament for the Yashar party, led by Netanyahu’s main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot.
Both Netanyahu and Eisenkot appear to have fallen short of an outright path to victory, exit polls show. But polls also suggest Eisenkot’s bloc might have a slight edge over Netanyahu’s grouping.
“Netanyahu’s coalition has lost 18 seats, 18 mandates. I would call that a crash. So, the Israeli public has spoken,” Pollak-David said on Tuesday evening.
Asked if she had hoped for a wider margin between Netanyahu’s coalition and Eisenkot’s bloc, Pollak-David said: “We could always hope for more, and we worked very hard, and we continue to work very hard on convincing the Israeli public. But we’re seeing a clear wish for change.”
Speaking about next steps, she said any coalition building would take place “behind closed doors” over the next couple of days, or weeks. “There are lots of options. We have been preparing for this day, we have been planning for this day with various scenarios,” she said.
Voter turnout on Election Day surged to 77.7%, elections committee says
Voter turnout on Israel’s Election Day surged to 77.7%, the Central Elections Committee said on Tuesday evening, the highest percentage since 1999.
Nearly 5.7 million voters cast their ballot out of approximately 7.3 million eligible voters. Polling places closed at 10 p.m. local time, but the committee must still count double envelope ballots, which could be hundreds of thousands of additional votes.
These double envelope ballots are used by soldiers, reservists, diplomats, and others. They will push the voter turnout even higher, but the Central Elections Committee (CEC) doesn’t begin counting those ballots immediately.
Israel’s highest-ever voter turnout was 79.7% in 1988, according to the CEC.
Here's how the White House might see the collapse in support for Netanyahu
US President Donald Trump recently endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — whose bloc is projected to collapse from 68 seats in the Knesset to 50. That’s unlikely to land well with Trump, CNN’s Kevin Liptak reports.
Exit polls: See the first indications of Knesset seat numbers
Early exit polls released by Israel’s Channel 12 suggest the Knesset’s 120 seats will be divided between 11 parties.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party appears to have come top, just above the main opposition party headed by Gadi Eisenkot.
Here are the full exit polls:
Arab parties celebrate as exit polls suggest record representation in Israel’s Knesset
At the headquarters of the Joint List in Nazareth, supporters started dancing and singing after exit polls suggested the two Arab parties would have record representation in the upcoming Knesset.
The three main exit polls suggested the Joint List and Raam would have a total of 17-18 seats, surpassing the previous high of 15 seats they had in the 2020 Knesset.
It’s also far more than the parties had in the outgoing Knesset, where they had only 10 seats.
In a statement, the Joint List said, “We can say with confidence: we sent the fascist right-wing government to the dustbin of history.”
Social media posts showed Arab parties on the streets of Tayibeh in central Israel, with crowds carrying cheering supporters on their shoulders.
In the city of Sakhnin, Mansour Abbas, head of the Raam party, said, “We will turn the seats we won into a new reality in the country.”
Speaking to supporters, former Joint List lawmaker Osama Al Saadi said that Palestinians were “waiting for this historic moment.”
“We say that we have brought down this fascist government – the government of the genocide and ethnic cleansing,” he added.
This post has been updated.
