Israeli opposition parties outperform Netanyahu’s diminished bloc, exit polls show

Haifa, Israel | Oct. 27, 2026, 6:09 p.m. ET | 3 min read Exit polls for Tuesday’s parliamentary elections in Israel showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party with the most votes. But the anti-Netanyahu bloc of parties – led by Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar – came out ahead in all three exit polls published Tuesday night on Israeli television.Israel now faces a potential political stalemate, after neither Mr. Netanyahu and his allies nor the longtime prime minister’s opponents appear to have scored a clear majority of 61 seats in parliament, according to the early projections.These were Israel’s first national elections since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack and the conflicts that followed. Turnout was 77.7% by the time the polls closed – the highest since the 1999 parliamentary vote, according to election officials. The exit polls indicated a drop in support for Mr. Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, as well as a surge of enthusiasm for parties representing Arab citizens of Israel, who make up about 22% of the population. Israel’s three main television stations projected that an opposition bloc headed by former army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot would win 52 or 53 seats, compared with Mr. Netanyahu and his religious nationalist and ultra-Orthodox parties’ 50. The Joint List of Arab parties and Ra’am, a smaller Islamist party, were predicted to win an unprecedented 17 or 18 seats. Turnout in the Arab communities of Rahat and Sakhnin appeared to be about 80%. Shir Torem/ReutersFormer Israeli military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, shares a moment with his grandson, as he votes during the national election, in Herzliya, Israel, Oct. 27, 2026. Nonetheless, Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party outperformed polling throughout the campaign and could be the strongest single party with 24 or 25 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s 120-seat parliament.Mr. Eisenkot, head of the center-right Yashar party, said in a press statement that the exit polls pointed “to an absolute lack of confidence in Netanyahu and the government responsible for October 7 among the majority of Israeli citizens.”Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's foreign minister and a senior Likud party member, rebutted on Twitter that "the celebrations on the left are premature." Motivated by a surge of violent crime in Arab communities under Mr. Netanyahu’s minister of public security, Itamar Ben Gvir, Arab civil society organizations and political activists worked to mobilize voters after a lackluster turnout in the 2022 elections. Yousef Jabareen, head of the Joint List, said that, in light of the exit polls, it’s clear that “this radical government cannot continue.”Polls closed at 10 p.m. Tuesday local time. The official results of the vote will begin trickling in overnight as officials count ballots at polling stations around the country. That process could continue into Friday. Jewel Samad/ReutersIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits on a bench after voting at a polling station in Jerusalem, Oct. 27, 2026. Only on Wednesday morning will Israelis know whether a coalition seeking to unseat Israel’s longest-serving prime minister succeeded, failed, or whether the country faces political deadlock and the prospect of repeat elections – a scenario that played out only a few years ago. Deepen your worldviewwith Monitor Highlights.Politics with respectGet political stories with respectful analysis.There‘s a world of new ideas in everyBooks newsletter.There‘s more to life, enrich yours withCulture & Learning weekly.Follow humanity‘s discoveries withScience & Nature stories in your inbox.Gain a spiritual perspectivefrom the stories in your inbox.Want to understand the deeper impact of critical events? Learn the Monitor‘s insight.Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads. Tuesday’s elections were widely regarded as a referendum on Mr. Netanyahu’s leadership. For more than three years, the prime minister has refused to form a state commission of inquiry into the intelligence failures that resulted in the deadly 2023 attack that killed an estimated 1,200 people.Mr. Netanyahu’s Election Day campaign posters featured the image of U.S. President Donald Trump, who gave the prime minister his endorsement about a week ago. Exit polls show that the incumbent faced stiff competition from Mr. Eisenkot, who campaigned on themes of respectability and putting Israel on a different course. ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LoginReal news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.The Christian Science Monitor was founded in 1908 to lift the standard of journalism and uplift humanity. We aim to “speak the truth in love.” Our goal is not to tell you what to think, but to give you the essential knowledge and understanding to come to your own intelligent conclusions. Join us in this mission by subscribing.