Israel’s stock market drops as exit polls show no clear election winner

Israel’s stock market fell after exit polls showed no clear winner in the parliamentary election. The benchmark Tel Aviv 125 index dropped as much as 3.5 percent in early trading on Wednesday. With more than 76 percent of votes counted by 09:30 GMT, Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition was projected to win 54 seats and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot 47; 61 seats are needed for a Knesset majority. Despite three years of war, Israel’s GDP grew 2.9 percent in 2025 and 3.2 percent in the first half of 2026, while the Bank of Israel forecasts 5.6 percent growth for the full year.