Supporters react to exit polls while holding a banner depicting Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu during Israel's national election, at Likud's election headquarters in Jerusalem, October 27, 2026. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party alliance is narrowly trailing his top rival's coalition, exit polls of voters in the country's elections showed Tuesday.
A poll from Israeli TV network Channel 12 projected Netanyahu's side winning 50 of the 120 seats in Israel's parliament, known as the Knesset, NBC News reported. Parties aligned with Netanyahu's rival, Gadi Eisenkot, a former head of Israel's military, would take 52. Neither side would reach the 61 seats needed to form a government.
Turnout hit 74.3% by 8 p.m. local time, the highest for that hour since 1988, in Israel's first national election since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack sparked the war in Gaza.
The polls closed at 10 p.m. local time, which is 4 p.m. ET.
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