Israel election: count complete except “double envelope” ballots

Counting of polling-station ballots in Israel's election is complete except for “double envelope” votes, with Likud leading on 27 seats to 22 for Yashar and neither camp reaching the majority needed to form a government.

Around 600,000 double-envelope ballots, cast by soldiers, diplomats and others voting outside their assigned stations, are expected to be counted by Thursday. In the latest seat projection, Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud has 27 seats and Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar 22, while the Joint List and Naftali Bennett's Together party have 11 each.

Central Elections Committee data as of Wednesday noon showed roughly 4.42 million votes counted, led by Likud with about 917,000 (20.84%), followed by Yashar with about 724,000 (16.44%), then Together (9.14%) and the Joint List (9.11%).

Any coalition needs 61 of the Knesset's 120 seats, making the remaining ballots and inter-party deals decisive for the shape of the next government. Current results remain partial and subject to change.