Israel election results: Netanyahu's bloc leads, falls short of majority

With 42 percent of the votes counted in Tuesday's parliamentary elections in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc is leading, having secured 57 seats in parliament, according to the electoral commission.

However, it remains short of a clear majority.

The opposition bloc led by former Israeli military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot has won 47 seats, CE Report quotes STA.

The remaining 16 seats in the 120-member Knesset have gone to Arab parties, according to partial results released by Israel's electoral commission, as reported by The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu's right-wing bloc has slightly widened its lead but remains short of a parliamentary majority, meaning that forming a government is expected to be challenging, according to the German news agency dpa.

Photo Facebook/Netanyahu/