Projections show votes for Palestinian parties surged in a tight contest that saw the highest turnout in decades

Israel’s future hung in the balance on Wednesday as it became clear that Benjamin Netanyahu had lost his governing majority, and his political fate now depends on whether opposition Jewish parties are prepared to forge a common front with Palestinian parties, whose support surged in Tuesday’s elections.

The leader of the Jewish opposition bloc, the retired general Gadi Eisenkot, appeared to rule out such a broad coalition in a premature declaration of victory overnight for what he called a “Zionist majority”.

As the vote count proceeded on Wednesday, initial exit poll projections that Eisenkot’s bloc would have a narrow lead over Netanyahu’s coalition looked increasingly in doubt as the prime minister’s bloc edged ahead, with the votes of deployed soldiers and other absentee ballots (about 14% of the total electorate) yet to be fully counted.