Key facts
- Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc is projected to win 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.
- Rival Gadi Eisenkot's bloc is projected to win 48 seats.
- The election followed the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
Israelis voted in record numbers in a wartime election on Tuesday, with early results indicating a victory for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, across the Middle East, the election was met with widespread pessimism and indifference, with many expecting no change in regional dynamics. Netanyahu's bloc is projected to win 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, surpassing the 48 seats projected for rival Gadi Eisenkot's bloc. The election followed the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. In Egypt, lawyer Outhman Selim expressed dashed hopes that a Netanyahu defeat would steer the country away from the far right. Displaced Palestinian Majed Jundia in Gaza stated, 'They want to eradicate the Palestinian people so they do what they want.' Lebanese Kamel Haddad expected no changes, saying, 'As for who wins? I couldn’t care less.' Jordanian Tarek al-Kaissy reflected on the competition between Netanyahu and Eisenkot, stating, 'If one wins, he wants to strike you; if the other wins, he wants to kill you.' In Tehran, Abdollah Karimi saw 'the possibility of attack.'