Wednesday 18 September 2019 3:04 pm

Pressure on Netanyahu as Israel’s voters split (again)

(COMBO) This combination picture created on September 18, 2019 shows Retired Israeli General Benny Gantz (L), leader and candidate of the Israel Resilience party that is part of the Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) political alliance, speaking to journalists after voting during Israel’s parliamentary election at a polling station in Rosh Haayin, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) smiling after casting his vote at a polling station in Jerusalem on September 17, 2019. – Netanyahu and his main challenger Gantz were locked in a tight race in the country’s general election after polls closed, exit surveys showed, raising the possibility of another deadlock. Three separate exit polls carried by Israeli television stations showed Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White alliance with between 31 and 34 parliament seats each out of 120. (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND and Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND,MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel is left without a clear winner from its second election in five months, with Benjamin Netanyahu neck and neck with his rival.

With just over 60 per cent of votes counted, Netanyahu appears to have won 31 seats, while his opponent Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party garnered 32 seats, according to the Kan public broadcaster.

A prime minister needs to command a 61-seat majority in the Knesset (parliament).

The results suggest that both sides will struggle to form a majority coalition with smaller parties. Currently results place an alliance of Arab parties third, the ultra-Orthodox Shas party fourth and Yisrael Beiteinu, a nationalist party, in fifth place.

Netanyahu is vying to stay in power for a record fifth term. The 69-year-old is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having been in office for 10 years.

It is not clear what the next steps will be, as a third election would be unpopular with the Israeli electorate, although it puts further pressure on Netanyahu.

Main image: Getty