Parliamentary elections were held in Israel on 27 October, but they did not produce a clear winner. This is indicated by exit poll data published by the country’s leading television channels after the polling stations closed.
According to preliminary estimates, the Likud party, led by 77-year-old Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is set to come first and win 24 or 25 seats in the 120-member Knesset. The ‘Yashar’ party, led by former Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Gadi Eizenkot, is expected to win 21 or 22 seats.
Overall, according to preliminary data, the majority of seats will go to Netanyahu’s opponents. However, it remains to be seen whether they will be able to form a coalition. Likud will once again be the largest single party in the Israeli parliament, but will lose several seats compared with the previous parliament, when it held 32 seats.
Voter turnout exceeded 74 per cent — a record figure, it is noted, since 1973. Long queues formed outside polling stations. These are the first elections since the attacks by radical Islamists led by Hamas (an organisation designated as a terrorist group by the US and the EU) on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, as well as the ensuing wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and the military conflict with Iran.
Many regard this election as pivotal for the country. It is also seen as a referendum on the political course of Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition.
Netanyahu’s policies have divided Israeli society and deepened the country’s international isolation, writes Reuters. The Prime Minister himself, however, presents himself as the only leader with sufficient resolve to stand up to Israel’s enemies.