On a Tuesday evening when Israelis closed their polling stations on schedule, despite a request from Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and its allies to keep them open longer, the first exit polls offered a verdict without a victor. Seventeen years into a rule that has rarely been interrupted, Netanyahu finds his fate tied to a question the country has not settled: whether a nation still reeling from its deadliest day and from wars across Gaza, Lebanon and Iran wants to continue with the leader it has known, or to try someone else. The answer will not arrive tonight, and perhaps not for weeks or mont
Israeli Election Yields No Clear Winner as Exit Polls Point to Weeks of Coalition Talks
The country may not know its next prime minister for weeks, even months.
Mark
The headline says no clear winner. Why does that matter more than a narrow win would?
Mimi
Because in Israel the vote doesn't name the prime minister directly. Parties have to build a coalition, so an unclear result means weeks of negotiation, possibly months.
Mark
Turnout was high. Does that tell us anything?
Mimi
It was about 74.3% by 8pm, eight points above the same hour in 2022, per the Central Elections Committee. It suggests people felt the stakes were large.
Luke
Careful, though. High turnout shows engagement, not direction. We don't know whom it favored.
Mark
And the exit polls themselves?
Luke
They're early indications, and the report gives no seat figures. They say there's no clear winner. That's all we can lean on until real counts arrive.
Mark
Likud asked to extend voting. Is that significant?
Mimi
It was requested by Likud and other right-wing parties, and polls closed on time anyway. The reporting doesn't say why they asked.
Luke
Right, so we shouldn't read motive into it. It's a fact about the request, not an explanation.
Mark
Why call it a referendum on Netanyahu?
Mimi
Nearly 17 years of rule, deep divisions before the deadliest attack in the country's history, then wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. Eisenkot, a former military chief, is the main rival.
Der Puls
- Exit polls landed without a winner, leaving the country suspended between two possible futures.
- Likud's late request to extend voting past 10pm was refused, and the stations closed on schedule amid a charged atmosphere.
- Turnout surged to nearly 74 percent by 8pm, eight points above the 2022 pace, signaling a electorate that came out in force.
- Netanyahu and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot are locked in a tight contest that many voters see as a verdict on Netanyahu's long rule.
- Coalition talks now stretch ahead, with the outcome hinging on whether Eisenkot can assemble partners or Netanyahu can hold his bloc together.
On a Tuesday evening when Israelis closed their polling stations on schedule, despite a request from Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and its allies to keep them open longer, the first exit polls offered a verdict without a victor. Seventeen years into a rule that has rarely been interrupted, Netanyahu finds his fate tied to a question the country has not settled: whether a nation still reeling from its deadliest day and from wars across Gaza, Lebanon and Iran wants to continue with the leader it has known, or to try someone else. The answer will not arrive tonight, and perhaps not for weeks or months, as the parties begin the slow work of building coalitions out of their disagreements.
Polling stations across Israel closed on time on Tuesday night, even though Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and other right-wing parties had asked for voting to continue past 10pm. The request was refused, and the first exit polls that followed showed no clear winner.
What that means in practice is a period of hard bargaining. With no obvious victor, Israelis may wait weeks or even months to learn who will lead the next government, as parties race to assemble a coalition.
Voters turned out in large numbers despite some bad weather. By 8pm, nearly 74 percent of eligible voters had cast ballots, eight points ahead of the same hour in 2022. Netanyahu voted at midday. He faces a field of parties determined to remove him, and pre-election polls had shown a close race between him and Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief.
The contest is widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's nearly unbroken 17 years in power. The country was already deeply divided before its deadliest attack, and the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran that followed, along with settler violence in the occupied West Bank, have drawn global outrage and strained ties with close allies.
For now the exit polls settle little. The coming weeks will show whether Eisenkot can gather enough partners, whether Netanyahu can hold his bloc together, and how the war has shaped the final count.
Polling stations across Israel closed on schedule on Tuesday night, even though Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and other right-wing parties had asked for voting to run past the planned 10pm cut-off. The request was not granted, and the first exit polls that followed pointed to no clear winner.
The practical meaning is a stretch of political bargaining. With no obvious victor, the country may not know who its next prime minister will be for weeks, or even months, while parties jockey to assemble a governing coalition.
Turnout was high throughout the day, despite some inclement weather. By 8pm local time, nearly 74.3% of eligible voters had cast ballots, according to the Central Elections Committee. That is eight percentage points higher than at the same hour in the previous election, in 2022. As the count began, the parties moved to their campaign events to watch results come in.
Netanyahu voted just after midday. He faces an array of parties determined to remove him from power, and opinion polls going into the vote suggested a tight contest between him and his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief.
The race has been widely read as a referendum on Netanyahu's rule, which has been nearly unbroken for 17 years. Israelis were bitterly divided over a host of issues even before the deadliest attack in the country's history. The wars that followed, in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, along with settler violence in the occupied West Bank, have stirred outrage worldwide. They have strained relations with Israel's closest allies and fed a rise in antisemitism.
For now, the exit polls settle little. What matters next is whether Eisenkot's challenge can gather enough partners to form a coalition, or whether Netanyahu can hold together a bloc of his own, and how voters' feelings about the wars played into the numbers once the final count arrives.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Polls closed on time despite a request from Likud and other right-wing parties to extend voting past 10pm.— TheJournal.ie report
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