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Israel Election Exit Polls Show Tight Race, No Clear Majority

Exit polls from Israel's national elections on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, indicate a tight race and a coalition deadlock, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc nor the opposition "change bloc" securing a clear path to a 61-seat parliamentary majority.

4 newsrooms · 2 languages · since 27 Oct, 22:08

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Israel Election Exit Polls Show Tight Race, No Clear Majority — Illustration by baba

What happened

01Exit polls from the October 27, 2026 election show a coalition deadlock with no bloc securing a clear 61-seat majority.
02Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party is projected to be the largest single party, winning 24 to 27 seats.
03Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar! party is projected to be the second-largest party, securing 20 to 22 seats.
04Arab parties made substantial gains, with exit polls projecting them to win 17 to 18 seats in the Knesset.
05Likud is hoping that the counting of soldiers' votes on Wednesday will push its coalition to a majority.
06High voter turnout was recorded during the election, reaching 74.3% by 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
07Analysts suggest Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial prevents him from accepting any political role other than prime minister.

Netanyahu's Likud party emerged as the largest single party, with exit polls projecting it to win between 24 and 27 seats. Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar! party is projected to win 20 to 22 seats. The change bloc is projected to hold a narrow lead in total seats, but its path to a coalition is complicated by the significant gains of Arab parties, which are projected to win 17 to 18 seats.

While Channel 12 and Channel 13 project the change bloc at 52 to 53 seats and Netanyahu's bloc at 50, Channel 14 placed Netanyahu's coalition at 60 seats. Likud is reportedly hoping that soldiers' votes, which are expected to be counted on Wednesday, will push their right-wing coalition to the crucial 61-seat majority.

Analysts suggest that Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial limits his political options to the premiership, while Eisenkot faces the challenge of navigating campaign promises and potential coalition partners. The final results may take several days to confirm due to the counting of special ballots.

Summarized by baba from the reports of 3 newsrooms. Updated 02:08

Latest report: Ynetnews. Read Ynetnews’s original