With 56 percent counted in Israel's Knesset election, Netanyahu's bloc leads on 55 seats, six short of a governing majority

With more than half the votes counted in Israel's Knesset election, the bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is projected to lead on 55 seats. The bloc is still, however, six seats short of the majority needed to form a government.

The figures came in preliminary results published on Wednesday (28 October) by the country's central election commission. About 2.8 million votes have been counted so far, roughly 56 percent of the total.

According to the preliminary results, Netanyahu's Likud party is in first place with 20.7 percent of the vote.

In second place is Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party with 16.7 percent. Former prime minister Naftali Bennett's Together bloc is third with 9 percent.

Based on the votes counted so far, the partial results suggest Netanyahu's bloc could win 55 seats and the opposition bloc 49 seats. Arab-led political parties are projected to win 16 seats, according to the same results.

In Israel's 120-seat parliament, at least 61 seats are needed to form a government. On that measure, Netanyahu's bloc is ahead but has not yet reached a position to form a government on its own.

Likud's vote share has changed during the count. At an early stage the party stood at 23.24 percent, later falling to 21.7 percent, and in the latest count it has fallen further to 20.7 percent.

By contrast, Eisenkot's Yashar party has seen its vote share rise as counting has progressed, according to the preliminary results.

The election commission said counting is still under way. The parties' vote shares and projected seat totals could therefore change before the final result is announced.