Arab parties could hold key as Netanyahu and Eisenkot set to fall short of victory

With results still trickling in, it currently appears that Israel's veteran Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has done better than was widely predicted with his Likud emerging as the largest single party.

His existing bloc with ultra-nationalist and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties appear to be just short of a 61-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament. However, analysts caution that this is subject to change because the early count was skewed towards areas known to have strong right-wing support.

A dramatic deadlock had been widely forecast as Israelis surged to the polls – with turnout reaching more than 77%.

In Israel's fragmented political system, the signs are that Netanyahu's main rival, the former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, would struggle to command a parliamentary majority without parties led by Israel's Arab minority. According to partial results, they have equalled or gained on their previous record number of seats.

On the campaign trail, most Jewish opposition parties pledged not to work with Arab-majority lists, citing a lack of shared values.

Many saw this as a make-or-break election to defeat Israel's most right-wing-ever government, accusing it of stoking racism and hatred.

A huge caveat in all of the current analysis is that the high number of as-yet-uncounted absentee ballots – mostly representing the votes of Israeli soldiers – mean that we are not expecting to have a clear idea of the final results for another day or two.

Overnight, both Netanyahu and Eisenkot addressed their supporters, pledging to form the next government.

Kaynak: BBC News World RSS (Açık Basın / Haber Servisi)