JERUSALEM — Preliminary exit polls showed Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing/religious bloc garnering a parliamentary majority in national elections on Tuesday, Nov. 1.
TOP: Ayman Odeh, Hadas-Ta’al; Zehava Gal-On, Meretz; Bezalel Smotrich, Religious Zionism; Mansour Abbas, Ra’am; BOTTOM: Benny Gantz, National Unity; Benjamin Netanyahu, Likud; Yair Lapid, Yesh Atid; Merav Michaeli, Labor.
According to Channel 12, Netanyahu’s Likud Party was projected to win 30 seats, making it by far the largest faction in the next Knesset.
The other right-wing parties received the following number of votes: Religious Zionism, 14; Shas, 10; and United Torah Judaism, 7.
With these numbers, the center-right would have 61 seats and be able to form a narrow coalition in the 120-member Knesset.
The Religious Zionism slate is a partnership between far-right lawmakers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Netanyahu’s partner- ship with the slate boosted their standing — Ben-Gvir looks primed for a cabinet position, should Netanyahu’s planned coalition come to fruition — and worried some Jewish leaders in the Diaspora.
Ben-Gvir’s party, Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit), had just barely squeaked into the Knesset, or parliament, in the last election in 2021, earning one seat. Ben-Gvir has unsettled American Jewish officials with his anti-Arab and other inflammatory rhetoric.
The center-left received the following number of seats according to the exit poll: Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, 24; National Unity, 11; Labor, 6: Meretz, 5; and Israel Beiteinu, 4. The Arab parties polled as follows: Ra’am, 5 and Hadash-Ta’al, 4.
According to Channel 13’s exit poll, the Likud Party was projected to win 31 seats, with Religious Zionism, 14; Shas, 10; and United Torah Judaism, 7.
With these numbers, the center-right would have 62 seats and be able to form a government.
A Kan exit poll also found Netanyahu’s bloc securing 62 mandates in the 120-member Knesset.
By Nov. 8, President Isaac Herzog will need to select a candidate to form a government.
If the preliminary results hold, the outcome would mean a comeback for Netanyahu, who has only been out of the prime minister’s office 16 months.
He would likely be given the first shot at forming a coalition of parties, with 45 days to do so by law. In addition to the Religious Zionism parties, Netanyahu’s coalition would include haredi Orthodox parties.
Should Netanyahu’s bloc fail to earn 60 or more seats, either Lapid or Benny Gantz, the defense minister leading the National Unity slate, would be the next targets for forming their own coalition.
As of 8 p.m. on Nov. 1, 4,498,410 Israelis, or 66.3% of eligible voters, had cast their ballots. It is the highest voter turnout since 1999.
Some 6,788,804 people were eligible to vote at more than 12,000 stations set up across the country.
Thirty-nine parties ran in the election.
Tuesday’s vote marked Israel’s fifth parliamentary election in under four years.
JTA contributed to this report.
