Israel count: Netanyahu camp largest, but neither bloc reaches 61 seats

After Tuesday's parliamentary election, the bloc around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in front, but a majority is out of reach for now. With just over half the votes counted, Netanyahu and his allies stand at 55 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, against 50 for the bloc of challenger Gadi Eisenkot, VRT NWS reports, citing The Times of Israel and public broadcaster Kan. RTBF put the figure at 56 seats at a slightly earlier stage of the count. Governing requires 61.

That reverses the picture painted by the exit polls, which had the two camps level and gave the opposition hope. Turnout was the highest in more than 25 years, according to La Libre. The Arab parties Joint List and Ra'am are on course for around 15 seats combined, which VRT NWS says could give them a pivotal role. Netanyahu rules out working with them and is calling for a firmly right-wing government. Eisenkot reads the result as a rebuke for the prime minister, who loses a substantial number of seats compared with the previous election.

Forming a government looks set to be arduous. De Tijd writes that a deadlock looms, possibly leading to fresh elections. HLN sees two ways out, a broad coalition across the blocs or another vote, and reports that Netanyahu is urging members of the rival camp to defect. De Standaard wrote last night, when the exit polls still looked more favourable for Eisenkot, that Netanyahu had drawn votes away from his radical partners. According to Het Nieuwsblad's live blog, US President Donald Trump claims his backing produced the turnaround.