By Maayan Lubell, Lili Bayer and Tamar Uriel-Beeri
JERUSALEM, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Israel's election appeared deadlocked on Tuesday with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor rival Gadi Eisenkot showing a clear path to power, exit polls showed, after record turnout in a wartime vote that raised the prospect of prolonged coalition bargaining or another election.
The stalemate could work in Netanyahu's favour, allowing the prime minister to remain in power in a caretaker capacity while parties try to forge a governing coalition.
Final results could take days, and Israel's fragmented political system leaves smaller parties potential kingmakers. No single party has ever won 61 seats outright in the 120-seat Knesset, making coalitions the norm.
The vote drew record turnout as Israelis passed wartime judgment on Netanyahu in the first election since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and the ensuing wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
Current opposition head 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.”
EISENKOT-LED BLOC HAS MOST SEATS BUT NO MAJORITY
The major networks showed the Eisenkot-led bloc winning between 52 and 53 seats, and the Netanyahu-led bloc winning around 50 seats. The remaining 17 to 18 seats were allocated to unaligned Arab parties in the exit polls.
Some Israeli media outlets, including pro-Netanyahu Channel 14, projected far stronger showing for Netanyahu and his parties, saying they would collectively win 60 seats.
Long lines had formed outside polling stations as voters turned out in record numbers, grappling with the trauma of Israel's deadliest day and the wars that followed.
The policies of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition have been divisive at home and deepened Israel's international isolation, but he has portrayed himself as the leader with the mettle to face down Israel's foes.
The headquarters of the Joint List, an alliance of several Arab parties, burst into whistles and applause as results were announced as polls closed in what was a historic night for participation for Palestinian citizens of Israel participation in the elections
Netanyahu, 77, has served as prime minister for nearly 19 of the past 30 years and has repeatedly survived political crises. His opponents have managed to wrest the premiership from him only once since 2009, after four inconclusive elections in two years. Eighteen months later, he was back.
He entered the election facing longstanding corruption charges, which he denies, and criticism over intelligence failures that allowed Hamas-led militants to kill 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
Eisenkot, 66, a hawkish former military chief who lost a son and two nephews in the Gaza war, emerged as Netanyahu's strongest challenger, stressing his security credentials while positioning himself as a centrist domestically.
He entered politics only four years ago and joined Netanyahu's war cabinet after the Hamas attack, but quit eight months later, criticising the prime minister's leadership.
For many Netanyahu opponents, the election turned on accountability for the security failures of October 7. Opposition groups have promised a national inquiry, which Netanyahu has resisted.
Netanyahu's nationalist brand of politics is deeply entrenched, and Israel's fragmented system makes it difficult for an array of opponents to force out his coalition of right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.
Netanyahu had urged supporters to come out to vote to balance high turnout among his opponents on the left and Arab Israelis. "You all need to stream to the polls," he said. "This is a fateful moment."
"I think these elections are the most important of all the ones I’ve known," said Ruth Epstein, an 81-year-old longtime left-wing voter in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, who voted for the opposition Democrats.
Netanyahu campaigned on an endorsement from US President Donald Trump, his ally in the war against Iran, who has said they should "finish the job".
(Additional reporting by Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem; Writing by Tom Perry and Michael Georgy; Editing by Howard Goller, Joe Bavier, Peter Graff and Kevin Liffey)
