Deadlock persists as Netanyahu and Eisenkot both seek to form government

Israel's election remained deadlocked on Wednesday afternoon, with about three-quarters of votes counted and no bloc close to the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud was on course to be the largest single party, but it was not expected to win an overall majority, BBC One West reported. The leaders of the two biggest parties each said they would try to form a government. Channel 4 reported that Netanyahu would remain caretaker prime minister while coalition negotiations took place.

Tuesday night's exit polls had already pointed to no clear winner. Sky News reported that Channel 11 projected Likud on 25 seats and Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar on 21, Channel 12 projected Likud 24 and Yashar 22, and Channel 13 projected Likud 25 and Yashar 23. With 120 seats in total, that left neither camp near the 61 needed to govern.

Turnout reached a record 77.7%, Sky News reported. BBC News said more than three-quarters of eligible voters had cast ballots, the highest ever in an Israeli election. Arab-led parties were projected to win around 18 seats by Sky News. A later BBC News count with 66% of votes counted put them at a historic 19 to 20 seats.

At that point BBC News reported that Netanyahu's bloc led by 54 seats to 47 for Eisenkot's bloc, while Likud itself was on 27 seats and Yashar on 20 or 21. The figures meant neither side could form a majority without support from outside its bloc. The Arab parties were emerging as potential kingmakers, although Eisenkot had indicated during the campaign that he did not want an alliance with them and some Arab parties had refused to join Israeli governments.

On BBC Two, Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland said the result was a rejection of Netanyahu. He said the Netanyahu bloc had shrunk from 68 seats to about 50, while the other side including Arab parties had about 70, a lopsided majority against the prime minister.

ITV reported that Netanyahu had warned that high turnout in Arab areas was an emergency and said they were trying to steal the election from us. His Likud supporters were subdued, while opposition activists celebrated. ITV also reported that both main blocs had ruled out doing business with Arab-led parties, though one senior official from Eisenkot's team later told the channel that the new reality needed to be recognised.

Sky News reported that possible outcomes included a minority government relying on Arab parties outside the coalition, a national unity government, or another election next year. Aviv Bushinsky, a former chief of staff to Netanyahu, told Sky News that Netanyahu would try to stall and hope the other side could not form a solid government.

BBC News analyst Michael Koplow said a new opposition-led government would be more likely to confront Jewish extremist violence in the West Bank and to cooperate with Gaza political efforts, while Iran policy would stay hawkish under any Israeli government.