Netanyahu already a ‘major loser’ in election: Israeli broadcaster

Israel’s public broadcaster described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as already “a major loser” Tuesday as exit polls put his bloc behind its rival’s and opposition leaders pledged to replace his government.

“It is still unclear who won the election, but there is already a major loser: Netanyahu,” the broadcaster said in the headline of an analysis.

Netanyahu began calling coalition party leaders after the initial projections, according to Israeli media. His Likud party asked members to suspend media interviews, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the projected outcome a “crushing defeat” for Netanyahu’s bloc.

“This is a complete collapse, and the public told them to go home,” he wrote on the US social media platform X.

Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot said the initial projections showed a “complete lack of trust in Netanyahu” and his government.

He said that if the projections were confirmed, he would act immediately to carry out voters’ wishes, replace Netanyahu’s government, and form one that would prioritize military conscription.

Democrats party leader Yair Golan also declared that voters had rejected the government.

“The public has spoken. It has fired Netanyahu’s government,” he wrote on X.

“We have a historic opportunity to form a government that brings real change in Israel, and we will not give it up,” he added, pledging to work with his partners to bridge their differences.

Exit polls by the public broadcaster and Channel 13 each projected 50 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc, 53 for Eisenkot’s and 17 for Arab parties in the 120-seat Knesset.

Channel 12 projected 50 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc, 52 for Eisenkot’s and 18 for Arab parties.

Neither bloc reached the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.

Channel 12 also reported that turnout among Arab voters reached 80%, describing the projected gains for Arab parties as historic.

Overall turnout reached 77.7%, the highest since 1999 and up 7.1 percentage points from the 2022 election, the Central Elections Committee said.

Vote counting began after polls closed at 10 pm local time (2000GMT). Exit polls are projections, not official results.