🗳️ 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬 🧵 With 66% of the votes counted, Netanyahu’s Likud-led coalition appears to hold 54 mandates in the new Knesset, while all the opposition parties taken together hold 66. This includes 19 mandates go to two Arab-majority lists, Ra’am, and the Joint List. 📸 Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90 (Illustrative photo from 2020)

🔴 Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu has also returned eight mandates, despite rumours throughout the day yesterday that its support had collapsed. While other party leaders have made equivocal promises about their intentions, Liberman has been strident and unequivocal in his refusal to sit in a government with either Netanyahu or the Arab parties. His role in coalition negotiations could be pivotal if he reassess his stance. 📸 Tal Gal/Flash90

An overview of exit polls from @israel_elects. All predict a hung Knesset, with no bloc achieving a majority on its own. However, there’s no consensus on which bloc is ahead.

According to Channel 13, Channel 12 and Kan, the pro-change bloc is ahead.

🗳️ Israel’s elections are in full swing. Yashar leader and the main challenger to the current government, Gadi Eisenkot, cast his vote in Herzliya earlier today. Eisenkot pledged this morning: “I commit to reconnecting Israel, to winning the wars and ensuring security for this wonderful people. This is the mission of my life.” 📸 Chaim Goldberg/Flash90

🗳️ Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife Sara cast their votes at a polling station in Jerusalem. Netanyahu urged voters to vote: “We are the majority - go out and vote!!! If we don't go out to vote now, we'll regret it in the retreats and the dangerous laws that will come.” 📸 Yonatan Sindel/Flash90