New Facts: Exit polls tie Likud and Eisenkot blocs

Exit polls showed no clear majority. Some tallies projected Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition alliance at 52 to 53 seats in the 120‑member Knesset and Benjamin Netanyahu’s camp around 50, with Likud as the largest single party on roughly 25 seats. Other projections flipped the edge, putting Netanyahu’s side near 55, Eisenkot’s near 49, and Arab parties around 16, still short of the 61 needed to govern.

Arab‑led parties were pegged at roughly 16 to 18 seats amid higher Arab turnout, leaving them in a potential kingmaker role. Eisenkot said he would try to form a government, while Netanyahu told supporters a right‑wing government should be formed without relying on Arab parties, narrowing his paths to a majority.

With both camps stuck in the low 50s on exit polls, forming a government now requires a cross‑camp deal, cooperation with Arab parties, or a broad unity arrangement. Failing that, the math points to protracted bargaining and the possibility of another election.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources