CNN World - No clear winner in Israeli election, exit polls say - Support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has collapsed and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot has a slight lead, polls say Updated 5:25 PM EDT, Tue October 27, 2026

 

CNN World 

No clear winner in Israeli election, exit polls say

Support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has collapsed and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot has a slight lead, polls say

Updated 5:25 PM EDT, Tue October 27, 2026

Here's the latest

• No clear winner: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, appear short of outright victory, exit polls indicate. After the highest turnout since 1999, Eisenkot’s bloc has a slight edge but is short of a clear path to power, the polls show.

• A blow for Netanyahu: The PM’s bloc is projected to collapse from 68 seats in the previous Knesset to 50 seats, according to Israel’s Channel 12 News. Eisenkot’s bloc is projected to secure 52 seats. Arab parties are celebrating after the polls suggested they will have record representation.

• What’s next: Final results are expected over the next 48 hours, but it could take days or even weeks for coalition building to take place. Deadlock, a minority government, a unity government – or even another election – are all possible.

Updates

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14 min ago

Here's how the White House might see the collapse in support for Netanyahu

By Kevin Liptak

Here's how the White House might see the collapse in support for Netanyahu

3:45

US President Donald Trump recently endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — whose bloc is projected to collapse from 68 seats in the Knesset to 50. That’s unlikely to land well with Trump, CNN’s Kevin Liptak reports.

17 min ago

Exit polls: See the first indications of Knesset seat numbers

By Soph Warnes and Ivana Kottasová

Early exit polls released by Israel’s Channel 12 suggest the Knesset’s 120 seats will be divided between 11 parties.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party appears to have come top, just above the main opposition party headed by Gadi Eisenkot.

Here are the full exit polls:

34 min ago

Arab parties celebrate as exit polls suggest record representation in Israel’s Knesset

By Abeer Salman and Oren Liebermann

Supporters of the Joint List cheer at their campaign headquarters in Nazareth on Tuesday as the first exit polls are announced.

Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

At the headquarters of the Joint List in Nazareth, supporters started dancing and singing after exit polls suggested the two Arab parties would have record representation in the upcoming Knesset.

The three main exit polls suggested the Joint List and Raam would have a total of 17-18 seats, surpassing the previous high of 15 seats they had in the 2015 government.

It’s also far more than the parties had in the outgoing Knesset, where they had only 10 seats.

In a statement, the Joint List said, “We can say with confidence: we sent the fascist right-wing government to the dustbin of history.”

Social media posts showed Arab parties on the streets of Tayibeh in central Israel, with crowds carrying cheering supporters on their shoulders.

In the city of Sakhnin, Mansour Abbas, head of the Raam party, said, “We will turn the seats we won into a new reality in the country.”

37 min ago

Netanyahu has lost his majority, but Eisenkot's path to victory is complicated

By Tal Shalev

A supporter of Gadi Eisenkot reacts to after the release of exit poll numbers at Eisenkot's party headquarters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

Shir Torem/Reuters

With exit polls showing that neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main challenger Gadi Eisenkot have a clear path to a governing majority, post-election coalition arithmetic is now wide open. Deadlock, a minority government, a unity government – or even another election – are now all plausible outcomes.

The news is bad for Netanyahu. His bloc of ultra-Orthodox and far-right allies lost its majority from 68 seats to just 50. Exit polls still project that his Likud party will hold a sizeable 24 seats – and will remain the largest party. But it is still well short of the 61-seat majority needed in the 120-seat parliament. And Netanyahu crucially needs a coalition to stay in power.

Netanyahu supporters are seen at the Likud party's election headquarters in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

The opposition bloc holds a weighty 70 seats on paper, but the reality is that it is fractured and divided, making it difficult to find a way forward. Jewish Zionist parties account for 52 seats, while the Arab parties are projected to win a record 18 seats – the highest Arab representation ever.

Eisenkot’s Yashar party is projected to be the largest party in the opposition bloc with 22 seats, but other party leaders in his bloc have ruled out a government that relies on Arab support – significantly complicating any bid to unseat Netanyahu.

The record Arab turnout appears to be one of the defining stories of the elections. Palestinian citizens of Israel – roughly 20% of Israel’s population – have traditionally voted at lower rates than the national average. In the 2022 election, Arab turnout was 53%. This time, it appears to have surged to over 78%. The move is seen as a protest vote against Netanyahu’s government and his far-right allies, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The leader of Israel's Arab-led Joint List political alliance Yousef Jabareen, center, and other Arab party members cheer at their campaign headquarters in Nazareth on Tuesday.

Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile, a high voter turnout also raises the bar for the small parties, because they will need more votes to pass the 3.25% electoral threshold.

Exit polls are projections, and the picture could shift as real votes are counted overnight.

1 hr ago

Exit polls show no clear winner

By Soph Warnes and Ivana Kottasová

Exit polls released by Israel’s Channel 12 indicate there is no clear winner.

Both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, appear to fall short of an outright path to victory.

However, the exit polls suggest Eisenkot’s bloc might have a slight edge over Netanyahu’s grouping.

41 min ago

Netanyahu's main rival says vote indicates "complete lack of confidence" in government

By Tal Shalev, Oren Liebermann and Dana Karni

Gadi Eisenkot supporters react to the exit polls

Pool via Reuters

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rivals welcomed the result of the exit polls, framing it as collapse of his support, even though the opposition doesn’t have a clear path to victory.

Gadi Eisenkot, chair of the Yashar party and Netanyahu’s main challenger, said it indicated “a complete lack of confidence in Netanyahu and the October 7th government.”

“I will act immediately to implement the will of the people, to replace the Netanyahu government and to establish a Zionist conscription government, as soon as possible,” Eisenkot said in a statement shortly after the release of the exit polls.

Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who partnered with Naftali Bennett, another former prime minister, said, “Don’t let anyone confuse you: the Netanyahu bloc has suffered a crushing defeat. This is a total collapse and the public has told them to go home.”

And Yair Golan, head of the left-wing Democrats party, said, “The public has spoken. It has fired Netanyahu’s government. We have been given a historic opportunity to establish a genuine government of change in Israel, and we have no intention of giving it up.”

1 hr 8 min ago

Very narrow edge for Netanyahu’s main rival in exit polls: CNN correspondent

By Billy Stockwell

No clear winner in Israel election exit polls

2:52

While there is currently no clear winner in the Israeli election based on the exit polls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, has a “very narrow edge,” CNN’s Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond said.

“Right now, we are seeing a result that is showing no clear winner in this race for the next prime ministership,” Diamond said shortly after polls closed on Tuesday evening local time from Netanyahu’s HQ in Jerusalem.

“Gadi Eisenkot, the opposition candidate, the chief rival to Benjamin Netanyahu, he and his opposition coalition are projected to reach 52 seats, so a very, very narrow edge for Gadi Eisenkot, but well short of the 61-seat majority necessary to form a majority government,” Diamond added.

Diamond said that Netanyahu’s party, based on Channel 12 exit polls, is projected to be the largest party in the next Knesset. But he noted that in the past, “these exit polls have tended to both underestimate and overestimate the strength of Netanyahu’s governing Likud party.”

1 hr 24 min ago

No clear winner as Netanyahu and main rival fall short, exit polls suggest

By Oren Liebermann

Gadi Eisenkot and Benjamin Netanyahu

Getty Images/Reuters

Exit polls indicate there is no clear winner in Israel’s elections, with both incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, appearing to fall short of an outright path to victory.

According to Israel’s Channel 12 News, Netanyahu’s bloc is projected to collapse from 68 seats in the previous Knesset to 50 seats. Eisenkot’s bloc had 52 seats, while the exit polls suggest the Arab parties have a record 18 seats.

Even though Netanyahu’s coalition, including far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, is expected to be smaller, his Likud party is projected to have the largest share of seats in the next Knesset with 24 seats to Eisenkot’s Yashar party’s 22 seats.

An outright victory requires a coalition to have at least 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. Both Netanyahu and Eisenkot appear short of that mark, based on the exit polls.

1 hr 44 min ago

Voting ends in a few minutes. Here's what to expect next

By Ivana Kottasová

An election official checks a voter roll at a polling station in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images

Voting in Israel’s tightly contested election is about to end — although election officials have stressed anyone who arrived at a polling station before the 10 p.m. cutoff time will be able to vote.

Immediately after that, Israel’s biggest news channels will release their exit polls, giving the world a first indication of what might happen next.

Remember: Exit polls are based on surveys done with voters at polling stations — they are not actual results. Those will start coming in over the next few hours.

2 hr ago

Why do many Israelis relate to Gadi Eisenkot? A political analyst explains

By Arina Porkhovnik

Gadi Eisenkot attends a conference in Jerusalem on August 12.

Erik Marmor/Getty Images

What makes a former military chief relatable to many Israelis? For Gadi Eisenkot’s supporters, it’s partly a sense that he shares their grief.

That’s according to Dahlia Scheindlin, a political analyst and senior columnist at Haaretz, considered a liberal publication, who told CNN that Eisenkot’s personal losses often come up in conversations with voters.

“He himself is a bereaved father,” she said.

Eisenkot’s son was killed fighting in Gaza two months into the war. The next day, he lost a nephew. And a year later, he lost another.

“Nobody says this is the reason to vote for him, but it often comes up when you ask why people feel like he’s so relatable,” Scheindlin said. “Many Israelis are living with a sense of loss.”

His military career is another part of his appeal. In Israeli politics, a storied military career is seen as a major asset and a gateway to success. Several former generals became prime ministers, including Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak.

Eisenkot is attempting to play on the same sentiment. Supporters see him as “having devoted his life as a career army person to the good of the state,” Scheindlin said, adding that in Israel, like in many countries, the army is seen as above politics.

“In many ways, he represents everything that Netanyahu does not in their eyes,” said Scheindlin. His recent arrival in politics also leaves him less associated with its “general dirty business,” she said.

Many voters, she observed, feel the current government “is working only for Netanyahu’s closed circles.” In contrast, Eisenkot “is on their side.”

Read more on Netanyahu’s main challenger in Israel’s elections here.