LIVEBLOG: Gantz, Netanyahu remain deadlocked as vote results trickle in

Exit poll results suggest no winner among the blocks, after all the polling stations officially closed

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main challenger Benny Gantz were neck-and-neck in Israel's second consecutive election in 2019, after polls closed on Tuesday, exit surveys revealed.

Three separate exit polls carried by Israeli television stations showed Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and Gantz's centrist Blue and White alliance with between 31 and 33 parliament seats each out of 120.

A subsequent, amended exit poll gave B&W an estimated 34-32 seats, with the Likud behind at an estimated 31 seats.