Exit polls show no clear winner in 4th election
JERUSALEM — Exit polls indicate there is no clear winner in Tuesday’s Israeli election, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fate uncertain and signaling continued political deadlock.
The polls on Israel’s three main TV stations showed Netanyahu and his religious and nationalist allies, as well as a diverse array of opponents, both falling short of a parliamentary majority. That could set the stage for weeks of paralysis and even an unprecedented fifth consecutive election. Exit polls are often imprecise and the official results may not be known for days.
The exit polls conducted by Channels 11, 12 and 13 were nearly identical, showing Netanyahu and his allies with 5354 seats in the 120seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament. His opponents were projected to win 59, and Naftali Bennett’s Yamina party was projected to win 78.
If the final results are in line with the exit polls, both sides will have to court Bennett, a former Netanyahu ally with strained relations with the prime minister, to form a majority of at least 61 seats.
Bennett shares Netanyahu’s hardline nationalist ideology but has signaled he would be open to cooperating with his rivals if given the chance to be prime minister.
The threemonth campaign was largely devoid of substantive issues and focused heavily on Netanyahu’s personality and whether he should remain in office.
Netanyahu, 71, who even after 12 years in office remains a tireless campaigner, continued throughout the day.
“This is the moment of truth for the state of Israel,” said one of his challengers, opposition leader Yair Lapid, as he voted in Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu has emphasized Israel’s highly successful coronavirus vaccination campaign. He moved aggressively to secure enough vaccines for Israel’s 9.3 million people, and in three months the country has vaccinated some 80% of its adult population.
Netanyahu’s opponents say he bungled many aspects of the pandemic, particularly by allowing his ultraOrthodox allies to ignore lockdown rules and fuel a high infection rate for much of the year. Over 6,000 Israelis have died from COVID19, and the economy remains in weak shape with doubledigit unemployment.
They also point to Netanyahu’s corruption trial, saying someone who is under indictment for serious crimes is not fit to lead the country. Netanyahu has been charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals that he dismisses as a witch hunt by a hostile media and legal system.