Netanyahu's Likud Calls the Vote Stolen by Arab Parties

Channel 12 and Channel 13 moved Likud from 24 seats to 27 between the first exit poll and 2 a.m. The voters did not move. The fight over who may govern with Arab votes is now the only election left.

Benjamin Netanyahu lost the first exit polls and took the stage at 3:23 a.m. to say the right had a majority "among the Zionist public." By noon his party said the election was "stolen by Arab parties" and demanded a police and Shin Bet investigation. In between, the polls changed, not the voters.

The night's first exit polls put Likud at 24 seats and Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar at 22, Netanyahu's bloc at 50, Eisenkot's at 52 or 53, the Arab lists at 17 or 18. Eisenkot, the former army chief, took the stage after midnight and said, "We made history." He told Netanyahu, "do not dare use the security of Israel for your needs."

By 2:17 a.m. all three channels had revised. Channel 12 put Likud at 27 and Netanyahu's bloc at 52; Kan and Channel 13 called it 51 to 51. Nobody had voted since the polls closed.