National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party was projected to win six seats in the next Knesset, according to exit polls published by Channels 11, 12, and 13 on Tuesday night.
The Religious Zionist Party-Zehut (RZP), led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, was projected to win six seats, bringing the two far-right parties' combined total to around 12 seats.
Ben-Gvir, RZP to win combined 12 seats, election exit polls project
Both parties are firmly part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc. Their combined projected total would represent a decrease from the 14 seats they won in the 2022 election, when they ran on a joint ticket.
Ben-Gvir adds Gotliv to party slate, Smotrich brings in Feiglin
Ben-Gvir campaigned on a security-focused platform and added former Likud MK Tally Gotliv to his party's slate, while RZP ran in a technical bloc with Zehut, led by Moshe Feiglin, in an effort to help the joint slate clear the electoral threshold.
Feiglin is now projected to return to the Knesset for the first time since 2015.
The exit polls are preliminary projections, and the final seat distribution will depend on the official vote count and the allocation of Knesset seats.
'Terrible mistake': Ben-Gvir rejects possibility of serving in Unity government
Otzma Yehudit chairman and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded to exit polls projecting his party would win six seats, saying the evening was still young.
“Regardless of the final results, we are very proud of our path, and especially of the major reforms that we promised the public, and we worked to realize them,” he said.
Ben-Gvir added that reports of a possible unity government with Gadi Eisenkot were “exactly the scenario we warned against,” calling it a “terrible mistake.”
Arab Israelis should not celebrate the results of the election exit polls, Religious Zionist Party chairman Bezalel Smotrich said early Wednesday morning, claiming they were celebrating because “they think they will succeed in stopping the revolution in Judea and Samaria."
"We will not allow you to stop [it]," he added.