TEL AVIV—Former Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
was holding on to an edge over his rivals in exit polls for Israel’s fifth election in four years, but the projections showed his lead as marginal and the outcome could change as more votes are tallied.
According to figures from an exit poll by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan, updated slightly before 1 a.m. Wednesday Israel time, Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party was projected to win 30 seats in Israel’s parliament, or Knesset. His bloc of right-wing and religious allies was projected to win 62 seats out of the 120-seat Knesset.
That gives him an advantage over Israel’s current centrist Prime Minister
Yair Lapid,
who has vowed to form a government without Mr. Netanyahu and whose Yesh Atid party was projected to have won 23 seats, according to Kan. Mr. Lapid’s bloc was projected to win 54 seats, according to the latest exit poll.
Supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu’s party on the eve of the vote displayed a banner saying ‘only Likud can.’
Photo:
menahem kahana/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Early on Wednesday morning, Mr. Netanyahu took the stage in front of a crowd of cheering supporters in Jerusalem to tell them they were “on the cusp of a very great victory.”
“We need to wait for the final results. But one thing is already clear: Our path, the Likud’s path, has proven itself,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
About 71.3% of eligible voters headed to the ballot box, the highest tally since 2015, according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee. By 6 a.m. in Israel, only about 34% of the vote had been counted, making the results fluid.
Mr. Netanyahu has promised voters he would form what would be the country’s most right-wing and religious coalition in its history. It would include an alliance of far-right and religious lawmakers proposing tough measures to quell Palestinian unrest in the West Bank and pass legislation to weaken Israel’s judiciary. The joint leader of that…
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