Exit Polls Put Netanyahu’s Likud Ahead in Israel Vote

Israelis voted in their 26th Knesset election, the country’s first national election since the October 2023 Hamas attack, with turnout reaching its highest level in decades. Preliminary exit polls put Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party first with roughly 24–25 seats, ahead of Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party, but projected neither bloc to win the 61 seats needed for a majority; official results were still pending. The campaign focused on Netanyahu’s leadership and security failures, military-service exemptions and judicial changes, with coalition negotiations potentially lasting weeks. Netanyahu urged right-wing supporters to vote and portrayed increased Arab voter participation as a threat to his bloc.