Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and competitor Gadi Eisenkot laid opposing claims to lead Israel after Tuesday’s election, with Netanyahu calling for a right-wing coalition and Eisenkot saying voters had rejected the long-time Israeli leader, even as exit polls left their blocs deadlocked.

The projected result would be a setback for Mr Netanyahu and his nationalist-religious coalition, but the stalemate could work in his favour by enabling the 77-year-old to remain in office as caretaker prime minister during what are likely to be lengthy coalition talks, or even until another election can be held.

Exit polls by Kan 11 and Channel 13 saw the two blocs deadlocked at 51 seats each with votes still being counted, while Channel 12 gave a tiny 52-49 edge to Netanyahu’s Likud-led bloc. That left both sides shy of the 61 members needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset and neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot claimed victory.

The voting on Tuesday was the first election since the Hamas-led onslaught on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich are anticipated to hold a total of 13 seats in Netanyahu’s bloc, with no big advances for either of the far-right religious groups.

Arab parties outside the two main blocs could be the power brokers. But Yair Golan, the head of the Meretz party and a former military officer, has all but ruled out joining a government with them, complicating his route to power.

SECURITY WAR BOILS OVER

Addressing party faithful after 3 a.m. (0100 GMT) at Likud election headquarters in Jerusalem, Netanyah urged for the establishment of “a strong, right-wing national government.”

He also lauded Israel’s military victories and hinted at the possibility of further combined action with US President Donald Trump against Iran.Israel now has a historic opportunity with our ally President Trump to remove the existential menace of Iran once and for all.” But we must not be diverted from our precious mission by ulterior motives,” ​he said.

“The public voted against Netanyahu remaining prime minister,” Eisenkot stated, calling on him to quit politics and warning him not to sacrifice Israel’s security for political ends.

Netanyahu is a caretaker prime minister without a mandate or the trust of the people, Eisenkot said, calling on the security establishment to stand firm against any attempt to place political interests above Israel’s security.

Voter turnout was 77.7%, the highest in more than two decades and almost 7 percentage points more than in 2022, Israel’s Central Elections Committee stated.

Final results were expected Thursday or Friday. Israel’s divided political system makes smaller parties potential kingmakers in coalition negotiations that have lasted to weeks or months after earlier elections. If neither faction is able to form a government, another poll may have to be held, which Eisenkot was averse to given the huge voter turnout.

The exit polls were a big blow for Netanyahu’s coalition, said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, but he warned that Eisenkot had not emerged as a clear winner and much may change as votes were tabulated.

The Israeli shekel weakened slightly on the inconclusive result.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has severely denounced the unjustified aggression by the Afghan Taliban regime against civilian residences and Angoor Adda Bazaar in Lower South Waziristan and expressed complete support to the response of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

Kundi added in a strongly worded statement that “Pakistan will never tolerate attacks on its people or violations of its sovereignty” and warned the Afghan Taliban government against underestimating its will to defend its land.

“The Afghan Taliban regime must not have any illusions, Pakistan will never tolerate attacks on its people or violation of its sovereignty,” stated the governor.

The KP governor said that the people of the province had made huge sacrifices in the war against terrorism by shedding thousands of lives to save the country from militant bloodshed.

He said sacrifices of people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would not be allowed to go in vain and no one would be allowed to threaten the citizens of the province or undermine the security of Pakistan.

– The U.S. dollar was steady at a two-week high on Wednesday ahead of central bank policy decisions, with the Federal Reserve widely expected to maintain its policy interest rate unchanged but signal the likelihood of any December rise.

Most dollar counterparts were flat ahead of the Fed decision. The euro was barely changed at $1.1129 and the British pound was also barely changed at $1.3307. The dollar last traded 0.1% weaker at 157.81 yen, having swung between gains and losses.

The kiwi dollar fell as much as 1.7% to $0.5585 as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand surprised the market by keeping rates at 2.75%. A Reuters poll found 22 out of 27 experts expected the central bank to boost rates.“The market just got that wrong,” said Mike Houlahan, a director at Electus Financial Ltd in Auckland. “Only 10 days left until the election,” he said. “It’s good manners not to get involved in politics.”

The Australian dollar was 0.1% firmer at $0.7035 after inflation figures of 1.3% in the third quarter of the year, after 0.6% the previous quarter. The trimmed mean measure of core inflation came in at 1% as expected by the market, putting the annualised rate at an above-target 3.6%.

Governor Michele Bullock told lawmakers on Wednesday that the Reserve Bank of Australia will debate whether four rate rises this year will be adequate to return inflation to goal at a policy meeting next week.

For US traders, mostly looking for no change in central bank policy. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool indicated fed funds ​futures are pricing ⁠a 91% chance the Federal Open Market Committee would maintain its policy interest rate on hold.”The Fed doesn’t have to hike today to move markets,” said Chris Weston, chief research officer at Pepperstone Group in Melbourne. It just needs to alter the estimated probability of trekking in December.

The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against six currencies, climbed 0.3% to 102.40, its best since October 14. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note was flat at 4.9967%.

In the cryptocurrency market bitcoin was unchanged at $80,736.07 while ether edged up 0.1% to $2,345.25.