Exit polls following Israeli elections indicate no clear winner

Sixty-one seats are needed to form a majority government.

Arab parties are projected to collectively win 18 seats.Polling stations closed at 10pm (20:00 GMT) local time.

Preliminary results are expected on Wednesday, followed by a final tally on Friday.

The official results are due to be published on November 4, eight days after the vote.Exit polls are based on interviews with voters immediately after they have cast their ballots.

The interviews help project the election’s outcome and have in previous elections tended to anticipate the results closely.Voter turnout in the Israeli election reached 74.3 percent as of 8pm (18:00 GMT), according to data released by the Central Elections Committee.

By comparison, turnout in the 2022 election was 70.63 percent.Polls predicted a tight race between incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and leading opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of the Yashar party and a former army chief.Israel’s Central Elections Committee rejected a request by Netanyahu’s Likud Party to extend voting hours.The election is the first since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza three years ago, following Hamas-led attacks on….

The official results are due to be published on November 4, more than a week after the vote.