Israel's Central Elections Committee said voter turnout reached 77.7 per cent as polls closed at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, the highest in more than two decades, France 24 reported with Reuters. The figure was around seven percentage points higher than in the previous election in 2022; ANI reported, citing official committee data, that turnout at the same hour in 2022 was 70.6 per cent, and that the 77.7 per cent figure was the highest recorded at that hour since 1999.

Source: France 24 with Reuters

The count is the first major new fact to emerge after voting ended. Earlier in the day, interim turnout figures and the first exit polls had already pointed to a decades-high turnout and a deadlock; the committee's final figure now confirms the scale of participation in the first election since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and the ensuing wars in Gaza, Lebanon and with Iran.

Updated exit polls converge on 52–50, with Arab parties on 18

Israel's three major networks updated their exit polls on Tuesday night, giving Eisenkot's bloc a two-seat edge over Netanyahu's Likud-led camp, at 52–50, Reuters reported. The remaining 18 seats were allocated to unaligned Arab parties in the exit polls. Netanyahu's Likud party was projected to claim 24 to 25 seats, retaining its status as the single largest party, while Eisenkot's Yashar party was expected to secure 21 to 23 seats, ANI reported, citing The Jerusalem Post's summary of the Channels 11, 12 and 13 projections.

Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat

One outlet diverged sharply: some Israeli media, including pro-Netanyahu Channel 14, projected a far stronger showing for Netanyahu and his parties, saying they would collectively win 60 seats, Reuters reported. Final results could take days, and no single party has ever won 61 seats outright in the 120-seat Knesset, making coalitions the norm.

Channel 12 reported Arab voter turnout at around 80 per cent and projected Arab parties to win 18 seats, ANewZ reported, citing Anadolu. At the headquarters of the Joint List, an alliance of several Arab parties, supporters burst into whistles and applause when exit polls were released, Reuters reported. “We refuse the occupation and racism, and we will remain here,” said Faten Gattas, a candidate in the Joint List, in a speech at the alliance's headquarters in Nazareth.

A defeat for Netanyahu's coalition — but no clear winner

Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, called the exit polls a major defeat for Netanyahu's coalition, which they showed falling from 68 seats in the outgoing Knesset to about 50, Reuters reported. But he said Eisenkot had not emerged as a clear winner, and cautioned that much could change as votes were counted. If the final result mirrored the exit polls, he said, Eisenkot could try to form a minority government that would remove Netanyahu from power, even if it lasted only until another election.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a statement: “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.” Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party, told a party rally after polls closed: “The nation has given us a sacred duty: to translate the trust they have placed in us into action, to fortify democracy, to save Israel and to provide true defense for the state.” Both statements were reported by Reuters.

The path to a government remains blocked on both sides. Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, has all but ruled out forming a government with the Arab parties, complicating his path to a majority despite his bloc's lead, Reuters reported. The stalemate could yet work in Netanyahu's favour, allowing him to remain in power in a caretaker capacity while parties try to forge a governing coalition. According to Channel 12, reported by ANewZ, President Isaac Herzog is expected to task Eisenkot with attempting to form a government, although that decision will depend on the official results and consultations with parliamentary parties.

Netanyahu, 77, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has served for nearly 19 of the past 30 years. He entered the election facing longstanding corruption charges, which he denies, and criticism over intelligence failures that allowed the Hamas-led October 7 attack, in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage, Reuters reported. Eisenkot, 66, a former military chief who lost a son and two nephews in the Gaza war, campaigned on his security credentials while opposing Palestinian statehood and saying Hamas's military wing must be destroyed or dismantled. Vote counting is now under way, and the updated exit polls are projections only — not official results.