Israel election leaves no bloc with a majority as coalition talks begin

Vote counting in Israel's Knesset election ended with neither major bloc reaching a parliamentary majority, leaving the country facing complex coalition negotiations.

With more than 99 percent of Tuesday's ballots tallied, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc secured 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset. The opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats, while Arab list parties combined for 19. The threshold for a governing majority is 61 seats.

Eisenkot, who heads the Yashar party, moved quickly. On Thursday he met former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett of the Together party to discuss forming a new government "as quickly as possible." He also met Democrats party chairman Yair Golan, the only opposition figure willing to consider a coalition that includes parties led by Palestinian citizens of Israel — a position all other opposition groups have rejected.

Golan separately met Mansour Abbas, leader of the United Arab List, known as Ra'am, which is projected to win seven of the 19 Arab party seats. Without Arab-party support, the opposition bloc cannot reach 61 seats.

Netanyahu's Likud party continued to circulate allegations that Arab-led parties had "stolen" the election with possible foreign assistance. The head of the Central Elections Committee, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, said he had forwarded "serious suspicions" of foreign interference to the Shin Bet security agency, while acknowledging he could not verify the claims.

Final certified results are due by Wednesday.