CNBC: “Netanyahu’s party has intensified claims that the Arab-led parties ‘stole’ the election, amplifying an allegation that spread after exit polls showed the prime minister’s bloc had suffered a setback.”

“Likud asserted Thursday, without evidence, that foreign interference was ‘aimed at facilitating a foreign takeover of the Knesset, the Islamization of Israel and toppling of the right wing government.'”

“Israel’s election deadlock has set the stage for weeks or months of political horse-trading, with every path to a government likely to demand difficult compromises and broken campaign promises,” Bloomberg reports.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing religious allies were projected to secure 53 seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament, ahead of the opposition bloc’s 48 but short of a majority allowing them to rule without further backing.”

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s electoral coalition opened a sizable lead over Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition bloc with 85 percent of the vote counted,” Axios reports.

“But while Netanyahu outperformed exit polls, which had Eisenkot’s opposition coalition ahead, neither bloc will clear a 61-seat majority. That sets the stage for weeks of wrangling over the country’s next government.”

“Netanyahu will emerge from the election down but not out. His bloc is on pace to secure 53 seats — 11 fewer than he currently commands. But Eisenkot’s bloc trails with 48 seats, leaving both men without a clear mandate to lead a government.”

“Israeli voters delivered a rebuke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘s far-right and religious governing coalition, but exit polls Wednesday suggested the election had no clear winner and indicated that the long-serving Israeli leader was far from defeated after three years of war ignited on his watch,” the Associated Press reports.

“The exit polls suggested voters gave opponents of the current government a solid majority in the next parliament. But it’s not clear if those disparate parties — which include Arab-led factions who appear to have made a historic showing — are willing to form a coalition. If they are, it would likely take weeks of haggling.”

“Israelis were bracing on Wednesday for what could be weeks of political gridlock after exit polls showed no clear winner in a national election that many have described as a make-or-break moment for the country,” the New York Times reports.

“Turnout in Tuesday’s election, widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government, was the highest in at least a quarter-century.”

“Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has left the country for the United States after losing Sunday’s presidential election and refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order to hand over his passports,” NewsNation reports.

“Six hours before polls close, voter turnout in Tuesday’s elections hit 56 percent — their highest level since 1973,” Axios reports.

“This looks like bad news for Benjamin Netanyahu.”

“Higher voter turnout will likely push several of the parties in his bloc below the electoral threshold — making it harder for the prime minister to reach a 61-seat majority in parliament.”

“Israelis flocked to the polls in record numbers on Tuesday in a tightly fought election that pits the long-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, against a loose coalition of rivals determined to unseat his right-wing coalition,” the New York Times reports.

“The press secretary for Argentina’s President Javier Milei denied that Flávio Bolsonaro, the defeated candidate in Brazil’s presidential election, had entered Argentina,” Bloomberg reports.

“The denial came after Infobae reported that Bolsonaro had entered Argentina and planned to travel to the U.S. from there.”

“Israelis head to the polls today for one of the most consequential elections in the country’s history — with rival camps warning that victory for the other would put Israel’s future in jeopardy,” Axios reports.

“The elections are yet another referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership and the path he’s taken the country down over the past four years.”

Wall Street Journal: “Never before in Brazil’s democratic history had a presidential candidate lost the first round and gone on to win the runoff. Abstention was at its highest level since 1998, and polls—which have historically overestimated da Silva’s support—showed him narrowly trailing Bolsonaro. The right had already begun selecting ministers for a new government.”

“But in one of the most dramatic electoral upsets in Brazil’s history, da Silva secured a fourth term with more than 64 million votes on Sunday, the most ever won by a presidential candidate in the country.”

“Flávio Bolsonaro, the defeated candidate in Brazil’s presidential election, is abandoning plans to seek to annul the vote and will instead file a case accusing reelected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of abuse of power,” Bloomberg reports.