Israelis are bracing for what could be weeks of political gridlock after exit polls showed no clear winner in a national election that many have described as a make-or-break moment for the country.
If neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line alliance, nor a bloc of opposition parties led by Gadi Eisenkot, win enough seats to form a government, both would need to find support from outside their blocs for backing as prime minister.
By late Wednesday morning, election officials had counted more than 60 percent of ballots. The exit polls — which have a spotty record in Israel — suggested that scenario was likely to play out. .
Some of Mr. Netanyahu’s allies are floating the idea that he could join Mr. Eisenkot and other centrists to form a broad unity government. For Mr. Netanyahu, who remains as a caretaker prime minister until a government is formed, that would be a comfortable scenario, as long as he remained on top.
Mr. Eisenkot faces a thorny dilemma: he has denounced Mr. Netanyahu as unfit to lead Israel, but he has also objected to partnering with Arab parties in a potential coalition. The two Arab parties are projected to win as many as 18 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel’s Parliament — a remarkable show of strength that could make them Mr. Eisenkot’s only path to toppling Mr. Netanyahu.
On Wednesday, Mr. Eisenkot did not explicitly mention the Arab parties and instead pledged to build “a stable Zionist government.”
Turnout in Tuesday’s election, widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government, was the highest in at least a quarter-century. It was the first election since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks ignited three years of war.
Most of the votes were expected to be counted by Wednesday, though the final tally could take days. Lengthy negotiations could follow as political parties try to assemble a governing majority. If those negotiations fail, the country could head to a second round of elections — a scenario that has played out before. For Mr. Netanyahu, playing down the clock in the hope of securing a stronger showing in a fresh election could be his strongest shot at retaining his role as prime minister.
The uncertainty did not stop the leading candidates from making triumphant late-night speeches to their supporters.
Mr. Eisenkot, a former Israeli military chief of staff, struck a defiant tone toward Mr. Netanyahu, saying: “Tonight we got the answer: The public opted for change.”
A few hours later, Mr. Netanyahu told supporters that his party, Likud, had emerged as the largest in Israel. “We must form a strong right-wing government,” he said.
