Channel 12 Exit Poll: Likud Largest Party, Netanyahu Bloc Suffers Major Blow

Initial exit polls from Channel 12 projected the "Netanyahu bloc" at 50 seats, the "Change bloc" at 52 seats, and Arab parties at 18 seats. Channel 13 projected a similar split of 50 seats for Netanyahu's bloc, 53 for the change bloc, and 17 for Arab parties. However, updated overnight projections showed shifts. Channel 12's revised poll placed the right-wing bloc at 52 seats, the left-wing bloc at 49, and Arab parties at 19, with Likud rising to 27 seats. Revisions by Kan 11 and News 13 also increased Likud's projection to 27 seats. Conversely, Shlomo Filber's poll on Channel 14 projected Netanyahu's bloc securing exactly 61 seats.

Among individual parties, Channel 12 projected Likud at 24 seats and Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar! at 22, while updated figures placed Likud at 27 and Yashar! at 21. Other projected allocations included Naftali Bennett's BeYachad at 12 to 15 seats, the Joint List at 9 to 11, Yair Golan's Democrats at nine, Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu at nine, and Ra'am and United Torah Judaism at seven each. Both Netanyahu and Eisenkot are expected to claim victory, but the path to government remains highly uncertain. Analysts suggest Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial limits his political options to the premiership, while Eisenkot faces the challenge of navigating campaign promises and potential reliance on Arab parties.