<p>Both blocs would fall short of the 61 seats needed to form a government as support for Palestinian parties surges</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/27/israel-election-too-close-to-call-as-exit-polls-give-netanyahu-bloc-slightly-fewer-seats">Full report: Israel election too close to call as exit polls give Netanyahu bloc slightly fewer seats</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/27/palestinian-parties-knesset-election-exit-polls-redraw-israel-political-landscape">Analysis: Rise of Palestinian parties in Knesset will redraw Israel’s political landscape</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/28/israel-election-results-what-we-know-so-far-ntwnfb">Israel election: what we know so far</a></p></li></ul><p><strong>Supporters of the opposition bloc breathed a sigh of relief after the first exit polls were announced, but as the night has worn on nervousness has grown on both sides.</strong></p><p>With exit polls shifting to put the two sides on equal footing, Agence France-Presse is reporting that voters like former Hamas hostage Ohad Ben Ami have expressed alarm that Netanyahu could come out ahead.</p><p>An Israeli citizen should never have spent a year and a half in Hamas tunnels when deals [with Hamas] were on the table.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/oct/28/israel-election-results-live-updates-exit-polls-netanyahu-likud-eisenkot-latest-news">Continue reading...</a>