Israeli exit polls suggest no clear winner in pivotal general election

This video can not be played 'No clear winner' in Israel election - what happens now? Exit polls suggest there is no clear winner of Israel's pivotal general election, with neither veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor former military chief Gadi Eisenkot on track to secure a majority. Two Israeli broadcasters projected that Eisenkot's Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties in his "Change Bloc" would win 51 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, as would Netanyahu's Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies. A third broadcaster's poll gave Netanyahu a lead of three seats. Much will depend on the role played , which were projected to win a record 18 or 19 seats. Voter turnout on Tuesday was the highest in decades. It stood at 77.7% when polls closed at local time ( GMT), which was the highest at that hour since 1999, the Central Elections Committee said. Official results will start to be published overnight, but an estimated 600,000 absentee ballots cast mostly - around 10% of the total number of votes - will not be fully counted until Thursday. Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Gadi Eisenkot both claimed victory in response to the exit polls Once the final results are confirmed, and following consultations with all the political factions, Israel's president will invite the party leader whom he believes has the best chance of success to form a governing coalition - a process that could take weeks. If they fail, then ultimately there would have to be another election. At the headquarters of Eisenkot's Yashar party in Tel Aviv, his supporters cheered and chanted "Bibi, go home!" after the initial exit polls published , Channel 12 and Channel 13 projected that his bloc would emerge as the biggest in the Knesset, with between 52 and 53 seats, compared to 50 seats for Netanyahu's governing coalition. Eisenkot said they had "made history" and promised to "ensure that the people's decision is translated into a Zionist government: stable and good for all of Israel's citizens". His ally in the Beyachad party, former prime minister Yair Lapid, said Netanyahu's bloc had suffered a "crushing defeat". However, there was no sign of surrender at the Jerusalem headquarters of Netanyahu's Likud party, which was projected to be the largest party in parliament. Supporters there told the BBC that they were nervous. "It's not over until it's over, but I'm sweating," Itzik said. Netanyahu's ally, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, said celebrations on the left were "premature", while National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told supporters of his far-right Jewish Power party to pray that the final results would lead to a "full-on right-wing government".