Israel Election: Exit Polls Show No Clear Winner

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Updated Israeli exit polls suggest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc is now tied with the opposition, after earlier projections showed a narrow lead for the bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot.

Public broadcaster Kan 11 and Channel 13 both put the pro-Netanyahu and anti-Netanyahu blocs at 51 seats each. Channel 12, meanwhile, is now showing the pro-Netanyahu camp with an edge at 52 seats and the opposition at 49 seats.

Kan 11's latest projection gives Netanyahu's Likud party 27 seats, up from 25 in its earlier poll.

However, none of the three major networks project either bloc winning the 61 seats needed for a majority in Israel's 120-seat parliament, the Knesset.

Eisenkot says he is ready to form a government

Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of the opposition bloc, said the election results pointed to a "complete lack of confidence" in Netanyahu and his coalition.

"I will act immediately to carry out the people’s mandate, replace Netanyahu's government and form a Zionist government committed to military conscription as soon as possible," Eisenkot said in a statement.

A former military chief, he made the issue of eliminating exemptions from military service for Ultra-Orthodox men central to his campaign.

Majority of Israeli public voted against Netanyahu, exit polls show

Much of the Israeli media labeled the Israeli election an opinion poll on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

If the exit polls of Israel's main news outlets are anything to go by, the Israeli public voted against the country's longest-serving prime minister.

While Netanyahu's current coalition includes 68 seats, the exit polls gave his bloc between 50 and 51 seats.

The Israeli prime minister is unlikely to concede defeat despite his coalition having taken a significant hit, but it remains to be seen how Likud's own ranks, as well as its coalition partners, will react to the exit polls.