Israel election turnout hits 77.7%, highest since 1999
NPR reports Israel's Central Elections Committee recorded 77.7% turnout, with exit polls giving Gadi Eisenkot's opposition bloc a slight edge over Netanyahu's coalition.
The story in focus
Israel's national election drew 77.7% turnout, the highest since 1999, NPR reported. Exit polls showed Gadi Eisenkot's opposition bloc with a slight edge over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, but final tallies and coalition negotiations are pending.
- The Central Elections Committee said 77.7% of voters cast ballots as of 10 p.m., the highest turnout since 1999.
- Preliminary exit polls showed no clear winner, with Eisenkot's opposition bloc at 52 seats to Netanyahu's coalition at 50.
- Netanyahu's Likud Party was projected to win the most seats, with Eisenkot's Yashar party second, in the 120-seat Knesset.
- Votes were to continue being counted Wednesday, and no party won a majority in the 120-seat parliament.
- Turnout was strong in majority-Arab areas, and Netanyahu urged right-wing supporters to vote as Arab citizens voted in high numbers.
Turnout and the vote
Israeli voters turned out in their highest numbers in more than two decades in Tuesday's national election, according to NPR. The Central Elections Committee said 77.7% of voters cast ballots as of 10 p.m., the highest turnout since 1999.
Voting ended at 10 p.m. local time. The preliminary results broadcast across Israeli TV networks did not show a clear winner. NPR reported that the election was the first parliamentary vote since the October 2023 Hamas-led attack and the start of wars in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Exit polls and the seat math
The early exit polls suggested Netanyahu's Likud Party won the most seats, with Eisenkot's Yashar party coming second. No party won a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.
According to the major exit polls, the bloc of opposition parties led by Eisenkot appeared to win a combined 52 seats, over the Netanyahu coalition's 50. NPR reported that the final vote tallies may take some time, and that if no bloc wins an outright majority it could take days or weeks to decide who will be Israel's next prime minister as party leaders try to assemble a governing coalition.
Shira Efron, an Israeli policy analyst at the Rand Corp. think tank, told NPR the outcome was a very good one for Eisenkot and his recently formed party. She said the most likely scenario is that he will receive the mandate from the president to form the government, and that he could try to form a minority government or join an alliance with Arab politicians.
Campaign and reactions
NPR reported that enthusiasm was especially high among voters seeking to replace Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, with almost two decades in office across multiple tenures.
Netanyahu voiced alarm throughout the day in multiple social media posts, alerting his followers to the high number of Arab citizens of Israel who were voting, and urged his right-wing supporters to get out and vote too. Turnout in majority-Arab areas was strong.
At an election party in Tel Aviv, Eisenkot's supporters cheered as the exit polls were announced. At the Likud election night party in Jerusalem, the mood was celebratory as supporters held out hope for a victory.
What was Israel's election turnout, and what did exit polls show?
The Central Elections Committee said 77.7% of voters cast ballots as of 10 p.m., the highest since 1999. Exit polls gave Eisenkot's opposition bloc 52 seats to Netanyahu's coalition's 50, with no clear winner.
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