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JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rival Gadi Eisenkot offered competing claims to lead Israel after Tuesday\u2019s election, with Netanyahu calling for a right-wing government and Eisenkot saying voters had rejected the longtime Israeli leader, even as exit \u200bpolls left their blocs deadlocked.<\/strong><\/p>\n Netanyahu called for the formation of \u201ca strong, right-wing national government,\u201d while Eisenkot said the public had voted against Netanyahu remaining prime minister and called on him to \u200cretire from politics. Neither of them claimed victory.<\/p>\n Neither declaration resolved the electoral arithmetic.<\/p>\n With actual votes trickling in, Kan 11 and Channel 13 exit polls had the blocs tied at 51-51, while Channel 12 gave Netanyahu\u2019s Likud-led bloc a narrow 52-49 edge. None left either side with the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.<\/p>\n The deadlock could work in Netanyahu\u2019s favour, leaving him in office as a caretaker prime minister during what are likely to be prolonged coalition negotiations or even until another election can be \u200bheld.<\/p>\n Far-right religious parties led by Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich were projected to take a combined 13 seats within Netanyahu\u2019s bloc \u2013 with no major gains for either of them.<\/p>\n Arab parties outside the two main \u200bblocs could hold the balance of power. But Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party and a former military chief, has all but ruled out forming a government with \u2060them, complicating his path to power.<\/p>\n Netanyahu highlighted Israel\u2019s military successes and raised the prospect of renewed joint action with US President Donald Trump against Iran as he addressed party faithful after 3 a.m. (0100 GMT) at \u200bLikud election headquarters in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael faces a singular historical opportunity, together with our partner President Trump, to remove the existential threat of Iran once and for all. But ulterior motives must not divert us from this sacred mission,\u201d \u200bhe said.<\/p>\n Eisenkot earlier warned Netanyahu not to use Israel\u2019s security for political purposes.<\/p>\n \u201cNetanyahu is a caretaker prime minister, without a mandate or the people\u2019s trust,\u201d Eisenkot said, calling on the security establishment to \u201cstand firm\u201d against any attempt to put political interests ahead of Israel\u2019s security.<\/p>\n Voter turnout was 77.7%, Israel\u2019s Central Elections Committee said, the highest in more than two decades and around 7 percentage points higher than in 2022.<\/p>\n Final results are expected on Thursday or Friday, and Israel\u2019s fragmented political system leaves smaller parties potential kingmakers \u200bin coalition negotiations that have run to weeks or months after past elections. If neither bloc can form a government, another vote may need to be held, something Eisenkot opposed given the high voter turnout.<\/p>\n Yohanan Plesner, president \u200bof the Israel Democracy Institute, called the exit polls a major defeat for Netanyahu\u2019s coalition but cautioned that Eisenkot had not emerged as a clear winner and much could change as votes were counted.<\/p>\n If the exit \u200cpoll projections hold, \u2060Netanyahu\u2019s nationalist-religious coalition, which at its height held 68 seats, would fall far short of the 61 needed to govern, leaving him with no clear path to forming a government.<\/p>\n Eisenkot, 66, who lost a son and two nephews in the Gaza war, emerged as Netanyahu\u2019s strongest challenger, stressing his security credentials while positioning himself as a centrist domestically. Eisenkot offers a break with Netanyahu\u2019s leadership and far-right allies, but not with the hawkish approach to security that has become more entrenched since the 2023 Hamas attack. He opposes Palestinian statehood \u200band says Hamas\u2019 military wing must be destroyed or \u200bdismantled.<\/p>\n Eisenkot says Israel\u2019s response \u2014 a war that has \u2060killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities \u2014 was a failure because Hamas remains in charge.<\/p>\nSECURITY FIGHT SHARPENS<\/h2>\n
NETANYAHU SETBACK, NO CLEAR WINNER<\/h2>\n
He entered politics only four years ago and joined Netanyahu\u2019s war cabinet after the 2023 Hamas attack, but quit eight months later, criticising the prime minister\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n