Israel election results live: vote count underway as exit polls point to tie between Netanyahu and Eisenkot blocs

Both blocs fall short of the 61 seats needed to form a government in initial forecasts as support for Palestinian parties surges

• Full report: Coalition talks loom as Israel exit polls suggest Netanyahu and Eisenkot blocs tied

• Analysis: Rise of Palestinian parties in Knesset will redraw Israel's political landscape

• Israel election: what we know so far

The big gains made by Palestinian parties in Israel's general election pose an urgent and fundamental challenge to the country's mainstream opposition: either cooperate with Arab Israelis or hand Benjamin Netanyahu a roadmap to political survival.

In the wake of Tuesday's exit polls, the leader of the opposition bloc, Gadi Eisenkot, declared them a victory for Israel's Zionist national majority" but the real outcome looks as if it will be far more complex than that.