Morning update

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition and the opposition bloc are both falling short of the 61-seat parliamentary majority following a surge in voting by Palestinian citizens of Israel. As of 9:20am local time (7:20 GMT), 66 percent of ballot boxes have been counted. According to the Central Elections Committee, Netanyahu's coalition leads by 56 seats, followed by 48 seats for Yair Gadi Eisenkot's bloc and 16 seats for Palestinian-led parties.

Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas has accused Netanyahu of "lying and inciting" against his party, claiming he is using allegations of election fraud to mobilize right-wing voters. In a video message filmed in Sakhnin on Tuesday, Abbas urged Palestinian citizens of Israel to vote for the United Arab List, also known as Ra'am.

US President Donald Trump claimed that his endorsement reversed Netanyahu's possible defeat. He wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that the tide had turned, and Netanyahu now appeared to have a "big come-from-behind stalemate, or even a WIN for Netanyahu."

Opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot warned Netanyahu against using Israel's security for political gain, emphasizing that Netanyahu should not exploit Israel's security for his political needs.