Early exit polls in Israel have put the opposition bloc of parties narrowly ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, after polls closed in an election marked by unusually high turnout among Arab-Israeli voters.
Dave Sharma, a Liberal senator and former ambassador to Israel, said the participation rate could damage the prime minister’s prospects of remaining in power. Arab Israelis account for about 20 per cent of Israel’s population and traditionally vote in lower numbers, he said.
“This is going to be the highest level turnout in election for about 30 years, and it’s particularly high amongst the Arab-Israeli community,” Mr Sharma told the Today show.
He added: “That’s a population that traditionally does not vote in high numbers, but in this election … has come out voting very strongly, which would augur badly for Netanyahu.”
Mr Sharma described Mr Netanyahu as “a great survivor of Israeli politics”, noting that he had served as Israel’s prime minister for the longest period. He said the election result could nevertheless raise the possibility of the veteran leader being ousted.
The early figures do not determine who will form the next government. Mr Sharma said it was not unusual for coalition negotiations in Israel to continue for weeks after an election.
