Netanyahu and his main rival Eisenkot look set for deadlock as Israeli election exit polls suggest no clear winner

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rival Gadi Eisenkot offered competing claims to lead Israel after Tuesday's election, with Netanyahu calling for a right-wing government and Eisenkot saying voters had rejected the longtime Israeli leader, even as exit polls showed no clear winner.Israel's Central Elections Committee was tallying votes on Wednesday and it will likely take until Thursday before definitive results of the election - the first since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023 - are known.With some 48.4 per cent of votes tallied, Netanyahu's bloc was projected to win 55 seats, and Eisenkot's bloc 50 seats, with 15 seats going to Arab parties, Israeli media reported, a distribution that will likely change as more votes are tallied.That leaves both sides short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, and neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot claimed victory.While the projected results may represent a setback for Netanyahu and his nationalist-religious coalition, a deadlock could work in his favour, leaving the 77-year-old in office as a caretaker prime minister during what are likely to be prolonged coalition negotiations or even until another election can be held.Netanyahu's bloc rules out forming a government with Arab parties, which themselves campaigned on a platform of bringing down the prime minister and his far-right allies. Eisenkot, the leader of the Yashar party and a former military chief, has all but ruled out forming a government with Arab parties, complicating his path to power.Far-right religious parties led by Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich were projected to take a combined 13 seats within Netanyahu's bloc – with no major gains for either of them. sraeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu waves to supporters at the Likud Party election-night event Supporters cheer and sing songs at the Likud Party election-night event People spray sparkling wine as they celebrate early exit poll results in Tel Aviv Netanyahu, addressing party faithful after 3am at the Likud election headquarters in Jerusalem, called for the formation of 'a strong, right-wing national government.'He also highlighted Israel's military successes and raised the prospect of renewed joint action with US President Donald Trump against Iran.'Israel faces a singular historical opportunity, together with our partner President Trump, to remove the existential threat of Iran once and for all. But ulterior motives must not divert us from this sacred mission,' he said.Trump, who endorsed Netanyahu, was asked early on Wednesday about the election after a campaign trip to Texas, and said he did very well.'You know, it's pretty close, which was very well. Because I think when the endorsement went out, it helped him a lot, but I actually heard he did pretty well. It might be winning or tie. The tie is sort of considered a win in that case because it's a big chess match.'Eisenkot said the public had voted against Netanyahu remaining prime minister and urged him to retire from politics, while warning against the use of Israel's security for political purposes.'Netanyahu is a caretaker prime minister, without a mandate or the people's trust,' Eisenkot said, calling on the security establishment to 'stand firm' against any attempt to put political interests ahead of Israel's security.Voter turnout was 77.7 per cent, Israel's Central Elections Committee said, the highest in more than two decades and around 7 percentage points higher than in 2022.Throughout the day, Netanyahu urged his supporters to cast their votes, calling it an 'emergency' and a 'matter of life and death'. Emotions were running high throughout the country on Tuesday with one voter in Jerusalem telling the Daily Mail: 'This is critical, and it's never been as critical.'She said she had come from kibbutz Nirim, which was attacked on October 7.In Kiryat Shmona, a Netanyahu stronghold near the border with Lebanon, a man kicked and tore down a poster of the prime minister's leading rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot.In Tel Aviv, some families of those killed in the Hamas-led 2023 attack and families of former hostages held a moment of silence.'Remember all those whose voices are no more,' said Yona Adam, the mother of Mapal Adam, who was killed.At a polling station set up in a Jerusalem school, some said they were voting for change while others said they only trusted Netanyahu to keep them secure.'He's not responsible for October 7,' said Nisim Cohen, a reservist.He added that he wants Netanyahu to win the election and continue the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and with Iran until Israelis can sleep peacefully.Zipporah Bennett, an 85-year-old retiree, also said she was voting for Netanyahu 'because he has had the experience of navigating the country through a lot of difficult seasons', praising his support from the US and adding: 'He's a man who's not afraid to take action.'Alexandra, a 65-year-old voter in Jerusalem, said: 'I want change in our country. I want a good democratic centrist government.' Israel's fragmented political system leaves smaller parties potential kingmakers in coalition negotiations that have run to weeks or months after past elections. If neither bloc can form a government, another vote may need to be held, something Eisenkot opposed given the high voter turnout.Meanwhile, the Israeli shekel weakened modestly on the indecisive result.If projections hold, Netanyahu's right-wing bloc, which at its height held 68 seats, would fall short of the 61 needed to govern, leaving him with no clear path to forming a government.Eisenkot, 66, who lost a son and two nephews in the Gaza war, emerged as Netanyahu's strongest challenger, stressing his security credentials while positioning himself as a centrist domestically. Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot waves an Israeli flag as he addresses his supporters at the election night rally Supporters of the Joint List alliance celebrate as the first exit polls are announced Supporters of Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) party, react following exit polls Israelis cheer at a public fountain after the first exit polls were announced, in Tel Aviv He entered politics only four years ago and joined Netanyahu's war cabinet after the 2023 Hamas attack, but quit eight months later, criticising the prime minister's leadership.Eisenkot offers a break with Netanyahu's leadership and far-right allies, but not with the hawkish approach to security that has become more entrenched since the 2023 Hamas attack. He opposes Palestinian statehood and says Hamas' military wing must be destroyed or dismantled.Eisenkot says Israel's response - a war that has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities - was a failure because Hamas remains in charge.The headquarters of the Joint List, an alliance of several Arab parties, burst into whistles and applause when exit polls were released, on a historic night for turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel.'We refuse the occupation and racism, and we will remain here,' said Faten Gattas, a candidate in the Joint List, in a speech at the alliance's headquarters in Nazareth.Candidates hoped high Arab turnout would allow them to play a decisive role in blocking Netanyahu's coalition from returning to power.Voters grappled with the trauma of Israel's deadliest day, when Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage, and the wars in Gaza and with Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iran that followed.While Netanyahu was criticised for the country's biggest security failure, he argued that he had made Israel and the world safer by killing top leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.The policies of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition have been divisive at home and deepened Israel's international isolation, but he has portrayed himself as the leader with the mettle to face down Israel's foes.Netanyahu, 77, has served as prime minister for nearly 19 of the past 30 years and has repeatedly survived political crises. His opponents have managed to wrest the premiership from him only once since 2009, after four inconclusive elections in two years. Eighteen months later, he was back.He entered the election facing long-standing corruption charges, which he denies, and criticism over intelligence failures that allowed Hamas-led militants to carry out their attack.