Israeli Exit Polls Show Netanyahu's Bloc and Opposition Tied

Israeli exit polls show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc and the opposition bloc tied at 51 seats each, with Arab parties projected to win 18 seats, Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported on Wednesday.

The polls, conducted by Israel's public broadcaster and Channel 13, indicate that neither bloc has reached the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.

Channel 13 projects that Netanyahu's Likud party would win 27 seats, followed by Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party with 23 seats and Naftali Bennett's Together alliance with 13 seats.

The Joint List and the United Arab List (Ra’am) are projected to win 11 and 7 seats, respectively, giving the two Arab lists a combined 18 seats.

Earlier projections had shown an initial lead for Eisenkot's bloc, with Channel 12 projecting 52 seats for his bloc, 50 for Netanyahu's, and 18 for Arab parties.

The revised projections come after vote counting began following the closure of polls at 10 pm local time (2000GMT) on Tuesday.

Turnout reached 77.7%, the highest since 1999 and up 7.1 percentage points from the 2022 election, according to the Central Elections Committee.

Official results are expected to be announced on November 4.

The Israeli Knesset has 120 seats, and a majority requires 61 seats.

The elections have seen a significant turnout, with 77.7% of voters participating, the highest since 1999.