Netanyahu Claims Decisive Majority and Vows Right-Wing Government Amid Unresolved Israeli Election Projections

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed a clear, decisive majority among Jewish and Zionist voters early Wednesday, calling for the establishment of a strong national right-wing government as revised election night projections shifted in his favor. Speaking to cheering Likud supporters in Jerusalem following Israel’s first parliamentary election since the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, Netanyahu asserted a mandate to govern even as exit polls showed neither his bloc nor the opposition securing the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset.

Netanyahu’s remarks followed successive revisions to exit polls that erased an early advantage for the Jewish-led opposition, whose leaders had previously proclaimed his defeat. Channel 12’s revised exit poll projected 52 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc, 50 for the Jewish-led opposition, and 18 for Arab parties. Channel 13 and public broadcaster Kan each projected a 51-51 tie between the two principal blocs, with Arab parties holding the remaining 18 seats. The pro-Netanyahu broadcaster Channel 14 placed his bloc at 60 seats, while i24NEWS projected 55. None of the five exit polls gave either side a clear parliamentary majority, though all five projected Likud as Israel’s largest party with 27 seats, ahead of former military chief Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party at 21 or 22 seats.

During his address, Netanyahu criticized Israeli television networks, accusing them of deliberately understating Likud’s support in pre-election polls to discourage voter turnout. Earlier in the evening, Eisenkot had urged Netanyahu to accept defeat and retire from politics, stating that a worthy leader would acknowledge a vote of no confidence. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, whose alliance with opposition leader Yair Lapid was projected to win 12 seats, similarly declared that Netanyahu had lost and that the October 7 government was going home.

Netanyahu sharply rejected any attempt to form an alternative government dependent on Arab parties, whose combined representation was projected to rise to approximately 18 seats following a surge in Arab voter turnout. He warned against endangering Israel by establishing a government relying on anti-Zionist Arab parties, which he accused of opposing Israel’s existence and supporting Hamas. He also criticized the opposition’s proposed alliance of those serving in the military while considering cooperation with Arab factions.

The revised projections leave both camps facing difficult coalition negotiations. Under Channel 12’s figures, the opposition’s 50 seats combined with the seven projected for Mansour Abbas’s Islamist Ra’am party would produce 57 seats, falling four short of a Knesset majority. Eisenkot could seek additional support from the Joint List or attempt to draw parties from Netanyahu’s camp into a broader coalition, while a Netanyahu-led government would also require additional partners. Failure to assemble a workable majority could force another election.

The unresolved outcome leaves open the political future of U.S. President Donald Trump’s preferred Israeli partner, whom Trump endorsed twice in the final week of the campaign. Netanyahu pointed to a historic opportunity alongside the U.S. president to eliminate the Iranian threat, portraying military campaigns undertaken during his government as having transformed the regional balance of power by eliminating senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders as well as Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, alongside establishing security zones in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. He declared that Iran is weaker than ever while warning that the threat from the fanatical regime remains.

Netanyahu acknowledged that the final outcome remains unsettled as nationwide counting continues and hundreds of thousands of special ballots, including votes cast by soldiers and reservists, are still to be tallied. Final results are expected within 48 hours, after which President Isaac Herzog will consult Knesset factions before assigning the task of forming a government. Netanyahu will remain prime minister until a new government takes office.