JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc held steady at 54 seats, while the opposition bloc led by centrist former military chief Gadi Eisenkot rose to 49, with 84 percent of ballots counted, according to the elections committee.

Arab parties were projected to hold 17 seats, the committee said, as the results of Israel’s pivotal general election continued to take shape.

The latest figures leave Netanyahu’s bloc short of the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority in the 120-member Knesset, with coalition negotiations likely to determine the next government’s formation.

The election has been closely watched amid public discontent with Netanyahu’s far-right government and a political landscape marked by repeated electoral deadlock. Exit polls had suggested there was no clear winner, raising the prospect of weeks of negotiations before a government can be formed.

Netanyahu has called for a strong right-wing government and ruled out cooperation with Arab parties, which he has described as anti-Zionist. Eisenkot, meanwhile, has expressed conditional openness to working with Arab-led parties, although such an arrangement remains politically sensitive.

The latest figures also showed Otzma Yehudit, led by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, at seven seats. Other parties included Together with 11 seats, The Democrats and Yisrael Beiteinu with eight each, United Torah Judaism and Shas with seven each, and Ra’am, Religious Zionism and Identity with six each.

With counting still underway, the final distribution of seats could change. The results will determine whether Netanyahu can assemble a governing coalition or whether rival parties can secure the support needed to form an alternative government.