Israel's Count Nears 90 Percent With No Bloc at 61 as Likud Alleges Arab Parties Stole the Vote

Israel's election has produced a Knesset that nobody can govern from yet. With nearly 90 percent of ballots counted, no bloc has the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat chamber, Al Jazeera reported, with Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc at about 53 and the opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot at about 48.

Our earlier count, at roughly 84 percent, had the blocs at 54 and 49. The gap has narrowed as more votes came in, and it may move again.

What are the Israel election results so far?

According to the Jerusalem Post's tally of the Central Elections Committee figures, Likud has 26 seats and the Religious Zionist Party 6, with the ultra-Orthodox and other right-wing parties making up the rest of Netanyahu's 53. On the other side, Eisenkot's Yashar has 21, B'Yachad, led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, has 12, the Democrats have 8 and Yisrael Beytenu has 7. The two Arab lists have 19 between them, 12 for the Joint List and 7 for Ra'am, a record.

Those numbers are not final. More than 500,000 double-envelope ballots, cast by soldiers, diplomats and others away from their home polling stations, are still to be counted, and could shift seats. Final results could arrive as early as Thursday evening.

Why is Likud saying the election was stolen?

Likud said in a statement that the election "was stolen by Arab parties" and that it is passing evidence to the police, the Shin Bet and the Central Elections Committee. Al Jazeera's report did not include any evidence for the claim, which is a political allegation.