Netanyahu bloc wins 54 Knesset seats, opposition 49, with 77% counted

The projected split points to a familiar Israeli outcome: a parliament without a built-in majority, where the real contest shifts from the ballot box to coalition arithmetic. That matters most for the parties hovering near the threshold, whose survival or failure can decide whether either bloc reaches the numbers needed to govern. With counting incomplete and no final result declared, the open question is whether the remaining votes narrow or widen the gap enough to change who gets the first realistic path to a coalition.