No clear winner in Israeli election, exit polls suggest

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the media after voting at a polling station in Jerusalem (Jewel Samad/Pool Photo via AP)

The Israeli election has no clear winner, exit polls have indicated, likely meaning weeks of jockeying to form a government.

Polling stations across Israel closed on time, despite a request by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and other right-wing parties to extend voting past the planned 10pm cut-off.

The election has seen high turnout all day despite some inclement weather, and the parties have headed to campaign events to watch the results roll in.

Still, the country may not know who its next prime minister is for weeks or even months.

Mr Netanyahu, who voted just after midday, faces an array of parties seeking to drive him from power. Opinion polls have suggested a tight race with his main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot.

Nearly 74.3% of eligible voters had cast ballots by 8pm local time, eight percentage points higher than at the same time in the last election in 2022, according to the Central Elections Committee.

The race is widely seen as a referendum on Mr Netanyahu’s nearly unbroken 17-year rule, which had left Israelis bitterly divided on a host of issues even before the deadliest attack in its history.

The resulting wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, along with settler violence in the occupied West Bank, have stoked worldwide outrage, straining ties with Israel’s closest allies and fuelling a rise in antisemitism.