Netanyahu, 77, was first to address supporters, telling an election-night rally that his Likud was the country’s biggest party and that he was waiting for “real election results”. His right-wing bloc, he said, had won a “decisive majority” among Jewish voters and “all those who support the state”.
“Israel faces a unique historic opportunity - together with our partner, President Trump - to remove once and for all the existential threat that is Iran. But we must not let hidden motives distract us from this sacred mission”, he said.
Eisenkot, 66, a former armed forces chief, read the night differently and urged Netanyahu to quit politics.
“The public voted for change. The coalition that failed has lost the public’s trust. Israelis voted against continued rule by Netanyahu”, he said after polls closed, calling on the prime minister to accept the “voters’ vote of no confidence”.
The numbers do not yet back either man. With more than half of votes counted, the Times of Israel reported, Netanyahu’s bloc was on 55 seats in the 120-member Knesset, the opposition alliance on 50 and Arab parties on 15, against the 61 needed to govern. Counting is continuing and the tally is expected to shift. Earlier exit polls had put the two main blocs level at around 50, with Likud the largest single party in both.
That leaves Arab parties potentially holding the balance of power. But Eisenkot, who has pledged a “Zionist government” that would introduce universal military service and eliminate Hamas, has signalled he will not govern with them, complicating his route to power.
Netanyahu has not commented on the exit polls. Reuters reported that a stalemate could keep him in office during coalition talks, or until another election, an outcome Eisenkot opposed.
Eisenkot said another election would be a mistake given the high turnout.
Turnout was 77.7%, the highest in more than two decades and about seven points above 2022, the Central Elections Committee said. It was the first national vote since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, and the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran that followed.
Final results are due on Thursday or Friday. President Isaac Herzog will then consult the parties and task the politician he thinks most likely to command a majority with forming a government. Israel held five ballots between April 2019 and November 2022 amid a similar impasse, and negotiations after past elections have dragged on for weeks or months.
Netanyahu, who has led Israel for almost 19 of the past 30 years, ran while on trial for corruption and under fire over the security failures that preceded October 7. Eisenkot campaigned on his military record while presenting himself as a centrist on domestic issues.
(jh)
Source: PAP, Polish Radio
Click on the audio player above for a report by Agnieszka Łaszczuk