Israel's Election Leaves No Clear Winner as Netanyahu Edges Ahead of Eisenkot in Partial Count

Israel's parliamentary election has produced no clear winner so far. With most ballots counted by Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a lead over his main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, in the official tally, but the picture across the wider political landscape was less favorable to him.

Taken together, the opposition groups, including a significant showing by two Arab-led factions, drew more votes than Netanyahu's right-wing bloc. That suggests many Israelis turned out to voice dissatisfaction with his government. Election officials said turnout on Tuesday topped 77%, the highest in more than two decades, and tens of thousands of expatriates flew home to vote. It was the first election since the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023, and the war in Gaza.

Both men addressed supporters overnight and claimed momentum, somewhat prematurely. Eisenkot, a center-right former military chief of staff who has promised more diplomacy and less extremism, said: "We made history! The public has voted for change." Netanyahu told his crowd that "the right-wing bloc has a clear, decisive majority among the Zionist public."

A winning side needs a coalition of 61 lawmakers in the 120-seat Knesset. Two Arab-led parties, the socially conservative United Arab List, known as Raam, and the left-wing Joint List, could be kingmakers, since Arab citizens make up about 20% of the population. However, both Netanyahu and Eisenkot and his allies have resisted partnering with them. Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party within Eisenkot's bloc, urged on X that the bloc form a coalition with the Arab parties, saying: "We have no future here if we don't stop being afraid. And if we don't stop with the racism." Mistrust of Arab political leaders has grown since Oct. 7.

The vote took place against a divisive backdrop. Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister with almost two decades in office across multiple tenures, faces questions about his ability to keep Israelis safe after the Hamas attack, in which nearly 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. Israelis have also been shaken by reports that the government received repeated warnings from regional countries about a planned assault.

Israel's military response has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, and left most of Gaza destroyed. Israel is contesting charges of genocide, and Netanyahu faces an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes. Relations with many governments have been strained, and public support for Israel in the United States has fallen sharply. Yet many Israelis are weary of international criticism, and Netanyahu's backers argue his wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran have restored security.

At Netanyahu's election night event in Jerusalem, screens showed videos of marching soldiers and airstrikes, along with President Trump endorsing him. Trump urged Israelis to reelect Netanyahu to "finish the job that we started." The two leaders have discussed possible major attacks on Iran, which could come after the U.S. midterm elections. Ori Hazan, a 24-year-old Likud supporter, said: "You fight us, we will kill you, OK? That's it."

Election officials told NPR they expect to finish counting, including hundreds of thousands of soldiers' ballots, by Thursday afternoon. Whoever finishes ahead will get the first chance to build a coalition and will have six weeks to do so. No party in Israel has ever won outright, so heavy negotiation is expected. Eisenkot, whose Yashar party includes figures from the center and moderate right, has pledged not to join a government led by Netanyahu. If neither side succeeds, Netanyahu could stay on as caretaker prime minister, with a repeat election next year.