Haifa, Israel | Oct. 27, 2026, 6:09 p.m. ET | 3 min read

Exit polls for Tuesday’s parliamentary elections in Israel showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party with the most votes. But the anti-Netanyahu bloc of parties – led by Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar – came out ahead in all three exit polls published Tuesday night on Israeli television.

Israel now faces a potential political stalemate, after neither Mr. Netanyahu and his allies nor the longtime prime minister’s opponents appear to have scored a clear majority of 61 seats in parliament, according to the early projections.

These were Israel’s first national elections since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack and the conflicts that followed. Turnout was 77.7% by the time the polls closed – the highest since the 1999 parliamentary vote, according to election officials. The exit polls indicated a drop in support for Mr.…