Netanyahu, Eisenkot stake rival claims to lead Israel after deadlocked vote
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Netanyahu → lead → vote
Voter turnout was 77.7%, Israel's Central Elections Committee said, the highest in more than 2 decades
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rival Gadi Eisenkot offered competing claims to lead Israel after Tuesday's election, with Netanyahu calling for a right-wing government and Eisenkot saying voters had rejected the longtime Israeli leader, even as early counting showed no clear winner.
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counting → say → winner
Israel's Central Elections Committee was tallying votes on Wednesday and it will likely take until Thursday before definitive results of the election — the first since the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023 — are known.
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results → tally → Oct.
With some 48.4 per cent of votes tallied, Netanyahu's bloc was projected to win 55 seats, and Eisenkot's bloc 50 seats, with 15 seats going to Arab parties, Israeli media reported — a distribution will likely change as more votes are tallied.
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votes → tally → parties
That leaves both sides short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, and neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot claimed victory.
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Netanyahu → leave → victory
While the projected results may represent a setback for Netanyahu and his nationalist-religious coalition, a deadlock could work in his favour, leaving the 77-year-old in office as a caretaker prime minister during what are likely to be prolonged coalition negotiations or even until another election can be held.
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election → project → minister
An aide speaks to Likud Leader Benjamin Netanyahu as he gives a statement following exit polls for Israel's national election, at the party's election headquarters in Jerusalem early Wednesday.
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he → speak → Jerusalem
Netanyahu's bloc ruled out forming a government with Arab parties, which themselves campaigned on a platform of bringing down the prime minister and his far-right allies.
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which → rule → minister
Eisenkot, the leader of the Yashar party and a former military chief, has all but ruled out forming a government with Arab parties, complicating his path to power.
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Eisenkot → rule → power
Far-right religious parties led by Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich were projected to take a combined 13 seats within Netanyahu's bloc — with no major gains for either of them.
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parties → lead → them
Israelis shatter turnout records in election that will pass wartime judgment on Netanyahu
- Front Burner
Will Israeli voters turf Netanyahu?
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voters → shatter → Netanyahu
Netanyahu, addressing party faithful after 3 a.m. local time at Likud election headquarters in Jerusalem, called for the formation of "a strong, right-wing national government."
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Netanyahu → address → government
Trump backed Netanyahu
He also highlighted Israel's military successes and raised the prospect of renewed joint action with U.S. President Donald Trump against Iran.
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He → back → Iran
"Israel faces a singular historical opportunity, together with our partner President Trump, to remove the existential threat of Iran once and for all.
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Israel → face → all
But ulterior motives must not divert us from this sacred mission," he said.
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he → divert → mission
Trump, who endorsed Netanyahu, was asked early on Wednesday about the election after a campaign trip to Texas, and said he did very well.
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he → endorse → Texas
Supporters of Gadi Eisenkot react after the release of the first exit poll results in Israel's general election in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
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Supporters → react → Tuesday
"You know, it's pretty close, which was very well.
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which → know → ?
Because I think when the endorsement went out, it helped him a lot, but I actually heard he did pretty well.
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he → think → him
It might be winning or tie.
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It → win → ?
The tie is sort of considered a win in that case because it's a big chess match."
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it → consider → case
Eisenkot said the public had voted against Netanyahu remaining prime minister and urged him to retire from politics, while warning against the use of Israel's security for political purposes.
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Netanyahu → say → purposes
High voter turnout
"Netanyahu is a caretaker prime minister, without a mandate or the people's trust," Eisenkot said, calling on the security establishment to "stand firm" against any attempt to put political interests ahead of Israel's security.
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Eisenkot → say → security
Voter turnout was 77.7 per cent, Israel's Central Elections Committee said, the highest in more than two decades and around seven percentage points higher than in 2022.
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Committee → say → 2022
Israel's fragmented political system leaves smaller parties potential kingmakers in coalition negotiations that have run to weeks or months after past elections.
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that → leave → elections
If neither bloc can form a government, another vote may need to be held, something Eisenkot opposed given the high voter turnout.
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Eisenkot → form → turnout
If projections hold, Netanyahu's right-wing bloc, which at its height held 68 seats, would fall short of the 61 needed to govern, leaving him with no clear path to forming a government.
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which → hold → government
- Analysis
Netanyahu 'fighting for his political life' in 1st Israeli vote since Oct. 7.
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Netanyahu → fight → Oct.
He might still survive
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He → survive → ?
Netanyahu faces fresh allegations he ignored warnings about Oct. 7 — right before an election
Eisenkot, 66, who lost a son and two nephews in the Gaza war, emerged as Netanyahu's strongest challenger, stressing his security credentials while positioning himself as a centrist domestically.
He entered politics only four years ago and joined Netanyahu's war cabinet after the 2023 Hamas attack, but quit eight months later, criticizing the prime minister's leadership.
A man walks past a Likud party campaign banner in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump, with a Hebrew message reading, 'We have one opportunity to win.'
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We → face → opportunity
Eisenkot offers a break with Netanyahu's leadership and far-right allies, but not with the hawkish approach to security that has become more entrenched since the 2023 Hamas attack.
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that → offer → attack
He opposes Palestinian statehood and says Hamas' military wing must be destroyed or dismantled.
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wing → oppose → statehood
Eisenkot says Israel's response — a war that has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities — was a failure because Hamas remains in charge.
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Hamas → say → charge
Voters grappled with the trauma of Israel's deadliest day, when Hamas killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli government tallies, and took 251 hostage, and the wars in Gaza and with Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iran that followed.
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that → grapple → Hezbollah
While Netanyahu was criticized for the country's biggest security failure, he argued that he had made Israel and the world safer by killing top leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.
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Israel → criticize → Hamas
The Aporia
