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Partial results published by the Central Elections Committee show that the pro-Netanyahu bloc has gained 59 seats in contrast to 46 seats for the anti-Netanyahu bloc.

Israeli opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday against using Israel’s security for political gain, as exit polls showed a deadlock in the country’s national election.

"Netanyahu, don’t you dare use Israel’s security for your political needs," he said.

“Netanyahu, don’t you dare use Israel’s security for your political needs.” Israeli opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against using Israel’s security for political gain, as exit polls showed a deadlock in the country’s national election https://t.co/6MZxhMzMOy

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) October 28, 2026

Figures from the Central Elections Committee indicate that at least 1,216,002 ballots have been counted by 5.20am local time (2.20am GMT)

Netanyahu’s Likud party is leading with 23.36 percent of valid votes. Following that is Eisenkot’s Yashar party, at 15.74 percent, and Naftali Bennett’s party, at 8.53 percent.

Israeli Channel 12 is reporting that approximately 94,000 votes have been counted in the elections so far.

Projections show Netanyahu's bloc of 52 seats overtaking Eisenkot’s 49. Palestinian-led parties are projected to take 19 seats.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc and the opposition bloc are both projected to fall short of a parliamentary majority following a surge in voting by Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The poll, released after voting closed on Tuesday, projects Netanyahu’s bloc to win 50 seats and the opposition bloc 53 in the 120-seat Knesset, with 61 needed for a majority.

The Joint List and Ra’am, two parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, are projected to win a combined 17 seats, potentially marking a record number of Arab lawmakers in parliament.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc and the opposition bloc are both projected to fall short of a parliamentary majority following a surge in voting by Palestinian citizens of Israel. https://t.co/PdEFRamh0W

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) October 27, 2026

Netanyahu's bloc has reportedly risen to 52 seats, overtaking Eisenkot's bloc, according to Israel's Channel 12.

Meanwhile, Palestinian-led parties have risen to 19 seats.

Opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot said early Wednesday that Israel had chosen change after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that he would seek to form a new government.

In remarks to supporters, Eisenkot also warned Netanyahu: "Don't you dare use Israel's security for your political needs," in a likely reference to his threats of new strikes on Iran.

He also said that he does not want a second election.

“In these elections, where there was a high percentage of Voters, it will be a mistake to rerun elections. It is my duty and the duties of everyone to be able to make the will of the people, a reality,” he said.

Israeli election officials have begun counting votes, Israeli media reported.

As of 12:18am local time, 2,670 votes had been counted from 15 polling stations, according to Israel’s Channel 12.

Voter turnout in the parliamentary election reached 77.7 percent, the Central Elections Committee’s latest figures showed.

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said his party “won’t let” Palestinian citizens of Israel celebrate after exit polls projected major gains for Palestinian-led parties, Haaretz reported.

“I can see on some of the screens that the Arabs are celebrating tonight. So I’m telling you and them: We won’t let them celebrate,” Smotrich said at an event held by his Religious Zionism party.

Exit polls projected the Joint List and the United Arab List would win between 16 and 18 seats, up from the 10 seats the two parties held in the outgoing Knesset.

Smotrich also said the parties would not be able to reverse the expansion of Israeli settlements.

“They think they’ll be able to reverse the settlement revolution in Judea and Samaria, and I’m telling them they won’t succeed,” he said, using the Israeli term for the occupied territory.

“They will not succeed. Jewish settlements will be established in Gaza," he said.

Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down and urged members of his Likud party to remove him, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.

“If he leaves, it will be possible to rebuild the national camp,” Lieberman, a former finance minister and deputy prime minister, said in a speech at his party’s headquarters.

Lieberman also expressed doubts about the exit polls, saying: “I’m not sure the polls reflect the true results”.

Yousef Jabareen, leader of the Palestinian-led Joint List, has called Tuesday’s Israeli election “a historic day”, saying voters sent a clear message that the “government of bloodshed” must go.

“The public has spoken, turning out in droves to the polling stations and placing its trust in us unequivocally,” Jabareen said in a statement.

“We have proven that we are a political force that cannot be ignored, and that a future here cannot be built without our voice,” he added.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir commented on the possibility of Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party forming a government, saying that it “will be paralysing our work”.

Speaking to supporters at his Otzma Yehudit party’s headquarters, Ben Gvir also praised its performance in Tuesday’s election.

“We are very proud of our journey,” he said, recalling a time when the party did not exist on the political landscape.

Otzma Yehudit, or Jewish Power, is projected to win six or seven seats in the 120-seat Knesset.

Neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor the Zionist opposition parties have enough seats to form a government following a huge surge in voting from Palestinian citizens of Israel, exit polls suggested on Tuesday.

After polls closed at 10pm local time, public broadcaster Kan said Netanyahu’s bloc is projected to win 50 seats with the opposition set to take 53 - far short of a 61 seat majority.

The Joint List and Ra'am, two slates representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, are projected to pick up 18 seats, which would be a record number of Arab MPs in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.

It was clear througout polling day that turnout would be high in the first election since the Gaza genocide and various Israeli wars in the region since the 7 October Hamas-led attack.

Read more: Israeli exit polls show huge Palestinian gains block Netanyahu from forming government

Ameer Fakhoury, an analyst at Israel's Vanleer Institute think tank, meanwhile describes the mobilisation of Palestinian citizens in this election a "truly historic development".

"They went to the polls in extraordinary numbers to confront a political leadership responsible for what they regard as the gravest crimes against their people: devastation in Gaza, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and years of persecution and intimidation at home," he told MEE.

Fakhoury said the election results are not merely a question of replacing Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister. "It is a choice between perpetuating apartheid and beginning political and moral repair."

"History has placed Palestinian citizens of Israel in an extraordinary position. Having mobilised first and foremost to protect their own people, they may now also help rescue Jewish Israelis from their country's destructive trajectory," he said.

"The question is whether Jewish Israeli political leaders are prepared to accept that possibility - or prefer the continued descent into a militarised, ethnocratic Sparta."

Veteran political commentator Meron Rapoport declared the results "the end of the Netanyahu era".

"He cannot be the next prime minister, that’s 100 percent sure. His Likud party appears to be the largest in parliament but this has no meaning if his coalition is very far from the 61 seats needed to form a government,” he told Middle East Eye.

“It is not clear what kind of government we will have. Maybe there will be new elections if no government can be formed.”

Rapoport noted that key opposition leaders Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman are very hostile to Palestinians and have ruled out sitting in a coalition with them.

“But putting ideology aside, if politicians see the chance to form a majority of 70 seats while Netanyahu has 50, I think they will be almost suicidal to go for another election that gives Netanyahu another chance.”