Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party is leading the country’s election, but exit polls suggest that both major political blocs have fallen short of the 61 seats required for a majority in the 120-member Knesset.
The Central Election Committee (CEC) provided data to show that Likud had around 27 per cent when the first 100,000 ballots were counted. Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot was in charge of the opposing bloc, which reportedly received about 17 per cent.
Both Blocs Fall Short of Majority
New exit polling estimates suggest Likud may become the kingmaker in a possible new parliament as it would win about 27 seats. But the Netanyahu and Eisenkot-led coalitions are each expected to come in with about 51 seats.
Early polling results indicated that Eisenkot’s bloc may have enjoyed a narrow lead. The updated forecasts are a narrow call with neither side having a clear path to government.
The exit polls predict that the remaining 18 seats will be occupied by Arab-led parties.
Netanyahu Faces Political Challenges
The findings support some discontent among voters with Netanyahu’s coalition with far-right parties and for their failure to draft religiously observant Jews into military service. These difficulties seem to have undermined his political strength in parliament, and have posed obstacles to his hopes of regaining political power.
Coalition Talks Ahead
Final results to be released in next 48 hours. But it might take weeks for the political parties to form a government because of the process they go through in negotiation with smaller political parties to gain parliamentary approval.
Israel has never had a clear-cut majority government, so the forming of coalitions is always a key aspect to Israeli politics. Minority governments are also feasible if they obtain other parties’ backing and/or assistance in passing law.
If negotiations break down, a further election may need to take place.