Israelis are bracing for a post-election gridlock as partial results on Wednesday morning showed no clear winner in the first polls since Hamas’ October 2023 attack.
The vote has widely been seen as a pivotal moment for the country and a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the conflict.
Turnout was the highest in at least a quarter of a century.
As vote counting continued, neither Netanyahu’s Likud party and its right-wing allies, nor a rival alliance led by former military chief, Gadi Eisenkot, appear on route to a clear win.
But in Israel’s fragmented parliamentary politics, no single party has ever won outright.
With either side needing 61 seats to form a majority government in the 120-seat parliament, this will likely lead to weeks of negotiations to form a coalition.
Exit polls show Arab parties projected to win an historically large number of seats, giving them significant leverage in forming the next government.
After 51.8 per cent of ballots were counted, Netanyahu’s bloc was shown to have 55 seats, Eisenkot’s opposition bloc 49 seats, and the Arab parties 16.
This suggest that the opposition group would have enough seats for a majority if there was a coalition agreement with the Arab parties.
But Eisenkot said during the campaign he would not govern with Israeli Arab lawmakers, echoing the position of Netanyahu.
A stalemate in the formation of a new government could in the immediate term benefit Netanyahu, who would remain caretaker prime minister until a new one is formed.
Full results are expected by Thursday evening or Friday morning.
The vote came as Israel looks increasingly isolated on the world stage, driven by the war in Iran and the military campaign in Gaza, as well as soaring settlement construction and violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Eisenkot shares many of Netanyahu’s views on security and has backed the Gaza offensive that has reduced the territory to rubble.
But he has vowed to create a more inclusive atmosphere inside Israel and to rein in violent West Bank settlers.