After voters went to the polls on Tuesday, Israel's Central Elections Committee tallied results on Wednesday and it will likely take until Thursday before definitive results are known.
It was the first election since Hamas' deadly October 7, 2023 attack and is being viewed as a referendum on Netanyahu's long leadership.
When some 48.4 per cent of the votes had been counted, Israeli media reported Netanyahu's bloc was projected to win 55 seats and Eisenkot's bloc 50 seats, a distribution likely to change as more votes are tallied.
The remaining 15 seats in the 120-seat Knesset were projected going to Arab parties, after a historic turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Both leading sides are short of the 61 seats needed for a majority and neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot claimed victory, but made defiant remarks.
A deadlock could work in Netanyahu's favour, leaving the 77-year-old in office as a caretaker prime minister during what are likely to be prolonged coalition negotiations or even until another election can be held.
His nationalist-religious bloc rules out forming a government with Arab parties, which themselves campaigned on a platform of bringing down the prime minister and his far-right allies.
Eisenkot, the leader of the Yashar party and a former military chief, has all but ruled out forming a government with Arab parties, complicating his path to power.
Far-right religious parties led by Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich were projected to take a combined 13 seats within Netanyahu's bloc – with no major gains for either of them.
Addressing party faithful at his Likud party's election headquarters in Jerusalem, Netanyahu called for the formation of "a strong, right-wing national government".
He also highlighted Israel's military successes and raised the prospect of renewed joint action with US President Donald Trump against Iran.
"Israel faces a singular historical opportunity, together with our partner President Trump, to remove the existential threat of Iran once and for all," he said.
Trump, who endorsed Netanyahu, was asked early on Wednesday about the election after a campaign trip to Texas and said he did very well.
"You know, it's pretty close ... I think when the endorsement went out, it helped him a lot, but I actually heard he did pretty well," Trump said.
"It might be winning or tie. The tie is sort of considered a win in that case because it's a big chess match."
Eisenkot said the public had voted against Netanyahu remaining prime minister and urged him to retire from politics.
"Netanyahu is a caretaker prime minister, without a mandate or the people's trust," Eisenkot said, calling on the security establishment to "stand firm" against any attempt to put political interests ahead of Israel's security.
Voter turnout was 77.7 per cent, Israel's Central Elections Committee said, the highest in more than two decades and around 7 percentage points higher than in 2022.
Israel's fragmented political system leaves smaller parties potential kingmakers in coalition negotiations that have run to weeks or months after past elections.
If neither bloc can form a government, another vote may need to be held.
Eisenkot, 66, who lost a son and two nephews in the Gaza war, has stressed his security credentials while positioning himself as a centrist domestically.
At its height, Netanyahu's bloc held 68 seats.
The Israeli shekel weakened modestly on the indecisive result.
with DPA and AP
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