Five key takeaways from Israel’s parliamentary elections

Partial results from Israel’s parliamentary election show a close contest between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot. With 55 percent of votes counted by Wednesday morning, Netanyahu’s bloc had 56 Knesset seats, compared with 49 for Eisenkot’s alliance, leaving neither side with an apparent clear path to a majority. The vote was widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s leadership following the October 7, 2023 attacks and Israel’s war on Gaza, amid escalating violence in the occupied West Bank and regional tensions. Exit polls projected Netanyahu’s Likud as the largest party, with about 27 seats to 21 for Eisenkot’s Yashar party.