Eisenkot and Netanyahu Blocs Tied at 51 as Arab Parties Claim 18 Seats

Exit polls from Tuesday's election indicate that the two major blocs in Israel are tied at 51 seats each. The opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot and the government bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are currently even in the 120-member Knesset. This stalemate leaves the balance of power dependent on the smaller parties.

Arab-led parties are projected to win a record 18 seats. The Joint List and Ra'am, the two leading parties in this bloc, are on track to hold more seats than any previous configuration of Arab parties. This increase reflects a dramatic shift in voting behavior among Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Turnout among Palestinian citizens reached approximately 80 percent, according to early indications from Channel 12. This figure breaks the previous record set in 1999. Overall national turnout also hit a historic high of 77.7 percent, the highest level recorded since 1999, per the Central Elections Committee. Palestinian citizens make up about 21 percent of Israel's population of 10 million.

Mansour Abbas, leader of Ra'am, stated that the current numbers prevent the anti-Netanyahu bloc from reaching the 61 seats required to form a government. "With the numbers we have now, there is no government," Abbas told Channel 12. Ra'am currently holds five seats and was part of the governing coalition from 2021 to 2022. Abbas noted that both the Netanyahu and Eisenkot blocs sought Ra'am's support before and after the vote.

Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador, warned that forming a government could be difficult for Eisenkot's bloc. Earlier exit polls placed Eisenkot's party narrowly ahead of Likud. However, his party pledged during the campaign not to enter coalitions with Arab parties. Pinkas said, "There's a price to pay," because Arab parties will likely make demands that Jewish-led coalitions may oppose.

Netanyahu's camp made last-minute efforts on Tuesday to rally supporters. They pointed to the high turnout among Palestinian citizens, a tactic that Arab politicians described as inflammatory. Witnesses reported that cars displaying Likud flags drove through Jerusalem playing the Islamic call to prayer while urging people to vote because "Arabs are voting."

On social media, Netanyahu shared an image of long lines at polling stations in Arab communities. He warned, "If we don't wake up now, we'll find ourselves with a government of Mansour Abbas and Ahmad Tibi." Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, described the vote as an existential moment for Palestinian-Israelis. She noted that the Knesset has passed more than 100 laws discriminating against Palestinian citizens.