With more than 76 percent of votes counted as of 09:30 GMT, Netanyahu’s bloc had 54 seats and Eisenkot’s 47, according to tallies published by Israeli media and cited by Al Jazeera.

With 70 percent counted, both Jewish blocs were below the 61 Knesset seats needed for a majority government, according to The Guardian. Arab-Israeli parties were heading for a record result of 16 to 19 seats, and forming a government would require a pact with them, new elections or a unity government, the newspaper said.