Israel election live: Netanyahu and Eisenkot opposition blocs tied in latest exit polls

Two Israeli TV networks have now updated their exit polls and are predicting that Netanyahu’s bloc will be tied with Eisenkot’s opposition grouping.

Kan 11 and Channel 13, two of the country’s leading broadcasters, have revised their exit poll to put the Netanyahu and Eisenkot blocs tied on 51 seats each. Channel 12, the other main broadcaster, has Netanyahu’s bloc on 50 seats and the opposition on 52 seats – narrowing their projections from earlier in the night.

A candidate needs 61 parliamentary seats to form a majority coalition government.

Exit polls released earlier on Tuesday evening had Eisenkot winning most seats in the Knesset by a slight margin. Israeli exit polls are often revised after publication and are notoriously imprecise, with the final count often swinging by several seats.

Earlier in the evening, Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beitenu party, warned supporters that the final results could still change after hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots cast by on-duty soldiers are counted in the coming days.

More than four hours after polls closed, party faithful are waiting for Netanyahu to address ⁠his Likud party’s headquarters in Jerusalem.

Israeli media is reporting that the Israeli prime minister is set to speak soon, and live images on local TV show crowds of supporters and journalists gathering to hear from Likud's leader.

On a giant screen at the event a video montage has been playing showing the prime minister hugging Donald Trump alongside footage of military strikes from the assorted wars he has led since the Hamas attack.