Netanyahu and Eisenkot each vow to form government after Israeli election
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Gadi Eisenkot each vowed on Oct. 28, 2026, to form a government after exit polls from the Oct. 27, 2026, election left both blocs far short of a majority.
The vote was the first since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, and turnout reached nearly 78%, the highest since 1999.
The three mainstream Israeli television networks gave each bloc around 51 seats in their exit polls, well below the 61 needed to govern, after initially giving an edge to the opposition. Israeli Arab lists were projected to win 17 to 18 seats, a sharp gain, with some Israeli Arab communities reporting near-universal turnout.
Netanyahu, 77, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, greeted cheering supporters at a Jerusalem convention center after 3:00 a.m. He called for a strong government of the right and said the Jewish and Zionist majority had to unite.
He was unusually brief and did not directly claim victory. He listed leaders Israel has killed under his orders and again hinted that he was ready for a third bombing campaign against Iran alongside U.S. President Donald Trump, saying Israel had a unique opportunity with Trump to eliminate the existential threat of Iran for good.
Eisenkot, a former military chief and political novice, spoke to his own supporters in Tel Aviv. He told Netanyahu not to dare use Israel's security for his political needs, a veiled warning to a leader who observers say could use a war to push for a unity government.
Addressing Israel's security establishment, Eisenkot said it served the state and not Netanyahu, whom he described as a caretaker prime minister without a mandate or the people's trust.
Eisenkot said it would be a mistake to hold a second election and vowed to work swiftly to form a government. The public had voted for change, he said, adding that a worthy leader would accept the people's vote of no confidence and announce his retirement from political life.
Eisenkot shares many of Netanyahu's views on security and has backed the Gaza offensive that followed Oct. 7, 2023, and has reduced the territory to rubble. He has vowed to create a more inclusive atmosphere inside Israel and to rein in extremist settlers in the West Bank who have attacked Palestinians with virtual impunity.
Key Israeli Arab leader Mansour Abbas said he believed the right had suffered a major loss and that he was open to working with Eisenkot. But Eisenkot said during the campaign that he would not govern with Israeli Arab lawmakers, and Netanyahu again suggested that a government relying on Arab votes would lack legitimacy.
Arab lawmakers could give Eisenkot support in parliamentary votes to maintain a minority government without joining a coalition. If not, Israel could head to new elections.
Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right figure who according to exit polls did not gain as much as many expected, warned Netanyahu against a unity government with Eisenkot, calling it a terrible mistake. Ben Gvir champions the expulsion of Palestinians and would likely be excluded from any unity government.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem political scientist Gideon Rahat said Ben Gvir had succeeded in mobilizing votes, those of Israeli Arabs. Even if Netanyahu lost, that did not mean Eisenkot had won, Rahat said.
The election came as Israel looks increasingly isolated on the world stage, driven by the war in Iran and the military campaign in Gaza, soaring settlement construction and violence in the West Bank. Netanyahu faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over Gaza as well as domestic corruption charges that could land him in prison if he loses power.
Eisenkot, 66, is the son of working-class Moroccan Jewish immigrants and would be the first prime minister of Middle Eastern or North African descent. Before voting, he paid his respects privately at the grave of his son Gal, whose death fighting in Gaza has drawn empathy from many Israelis.
Tens of thousands of Israelis are estimated to have flown in from abroad for the vote. Eilana Zisblit, 55, told AFP she had traveled back from Canada, where she has lived for almost 30 years, to vote for a center-right party in Eisenkot's bloc.
"The country is going in a really, really bad direction. Both for Jews and Arabs living in the country, and for Jews living abroad," she said. The time to act is "now, or the country really won't survive anymore."
