Haifa, Israel | Oct. 28, 2026, 5:15 p.m. ET | 6 min read

After an intense campaign rife with AI slop ads, threats of renewed conflict with Iran, and appeals to voters to save the country from certain doom, Israelis woke up on Wednesday to a murky outcome.

Israel finds itself in a political deadlock. That’s because neither Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies, nor a bloc of Jewish opposition parties seeking to oust the prime minister, managed to win an outright majority in the first parliamentary elections since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Late Tuesday night, exit polls indicated that Mr. Netanyahu’s opponents had him on the ropes. But Wednesday morning’s headlines said the prime minister’s Likud party and its allies were projected to win the most seats.

The path to a new Israeli government is unclear.

With nearly 85% of the votes tallied, Mr.…