JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main challenger, former military chief Benny Gantz, were locked in a neck and neck race Tuesday as exit polls showed no clear winner in an election that was seen as a referendum on the long-serving leader.
With final results hours away, the early indications were that Netanyahu suffered a setback by failing to score a decisive victory. The 69-year-old prime minister’s fate is clouded by a series of corruption investigations.
Two Israeli TV stations showed Gantz’s Blue and White Party with a narrow lead over the Likud, while a third exit poll showed them deadlocked.
Yet two of the polls gave the Likud and its hard-line allies the upper hand in being able to form a parliamentary coalition, and a third poll put the two blocs in a tie.
In separate statements, both declared victory.
“We won! The Israeli public has had their say!” the Blue and White party said. “These elections have a clear winner and a clear loser.”
It urged the Israeli president to “call on the winner to form the next government. There is no other option!”
Netanyahu said his right-wing bloc won a “clear victory.”
“I thank the citizens of Israel for the trust. I will already begin building a right-wing government with our natural partners tonight,” he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and candidate Benny Gantz have cast their ballots in Israel’s general elections. Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term in office. Gantz, a retired military chief, is giving him a stiff challenge.
Israeli exit polls are notoriously imprecise, meaning the final results could still swing in either direction. Official results weren’t expected until Wednesday morning.
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