Three new Israeli parties projected to miss Knesset threshold

Exit polls published Tuesday night by Channels 11, 12, and 13 projected that three new parties polling near Israel's electoral threshold would fall short of entering the Knesset. Each of the three must clear 3.25% of the vote to win seats.

People of Israel, led by former IDF Brig.-Gen. Ofer Winter, the Reservists-Economic Party, led by former communications minister Yoaz Hendel and economist Yaron Zelekha, and Haredi Public, led by Moti Leitner, were all projected below that line. Votes cast for parties that miss the threshold are not included in the allocation of Knesset seats, which can shift how seats are distributed among parties that qualify. The projections remain preliminary; final results depend on the official vote count and seat allocation.

Winter campaigned on a right-wing security platform that called for tougher action against Hamas while also backing greater ultra-Orthodox participation in military service. He declared People of Israel part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc, challenged the prime minister on several issues during the campaign, and repeatedly called for new faces in Israel's parliament.

Hendel and Zelekha's party campaigned on expanding military service to include more ultra-Orthodox Israelis and on addressing Israel's economic challenges. Hendel did not commit to either political bloc and instead called for a broad Zionist government after the election. Haredi Public sought to offer an alternative to the established ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism, focusing on representing the Haredi public.