Israel's election results due Wednesday with neither bloc near majority

Israel's election results are due to be certified on Wednesday, with coalition talks deadlocked because neither leading bloc won the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, Al Jazeera reported.

In the Oct. 27 vote, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition won 53 seats. The opposition alliance led by former army chief Gadi Eisenkot won 48. The other 19 seats went to the two Arab-led lists, the Joint List and Ra'am, which recorded their best-ever result on a surge in turnout.

After meeting on Tuesday, the main opposition leaders said in a statement they were preparing to "act immediately" to replace Netanyahu's governing coalition with a national emergency government. The statement did not say how they would reach a majority. That would depend on allying with either the Arab-led lists or the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, which have historically backed Netanyahu in return for shielding some of their members from military service.

The opposition includes parties led by former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, as well as Yair Golan and Avigdor Lieberman. Support from the Arab parties is contentious within the alliance. Sources in the Joint List told Al Jazeera they did not expect to be invited to back the bloc soon.

"Essentially, we're both on track to a government, and nowhere near being able to form one," said Mitchell Barak, an Israeli pollster.

Informal talks are widely reported to have begun, but official coalition negotiations start only after certification. Netanyahu's Likud party has floated refusing to recognise the results, citing claims of irregularities in the Arab vote. Police have investigated and discounted those allegations, while a separate Shin Bet probe is continuing. Netanyahu's camp has also been accused of trying to delegitimise the results.

After certification, President Isaac Herzog will consult all parties to decide which member of the Knesset is best placed to form a government. That person need not be a party leader. One option is for the Arab parties to recommend Eisenkot, who leads the centrist Yashar party. He would have 28 days to assemble a coalition, extendable by 14 days. If he failed, Herzog could invite another candidate.

Herzog is also considering Netanyahu's longstanding request for a pardon in his corruption trial.

Netanyahu argued on Monday that Likud's first-place finish, with 27 seats, gave him a mandate. "We aim to form a broad government with our partners and with any other party that wishes to join, provided they do not support terrorism," he said.

Attention has turned to whether Shas or United Torah Judaism, particularly the latter, might back Eisenkot. The two parties withdrew parliamentary support from the government in May after it failed to pass a draft law exempting some ultra-Orthodox members from military service, weakening its majority.

"There are rumours that the Ashkenazi are ready to break with Netanyahu and go to Eisenkot," political analyst Nimrod Flaschenberg told Al Jazeera. He said he was sceptical, and that such a move would still leave the opposition short of a majority without support from an Arab party, even from outside a formal coalition.

The new Knesset is due to be sworn in on Nov. 10.