With 81% of votes counted, Likud widening lead over Blue and White

With around 81 percent of votes tallied, the Likud party widens its lead over rivals Blue and White.

Likud takes 29.6% of the vote (36 seats), increasing the gap over second-place Blue and White with 25.8% of the vote (31 seats) — a gap of some 100,000 votes.

Those parties are followed by the Joint List with 12.55% of the national vote (15 seats).

The ultra-Orthodox Shas party takes 8.1% (10 seats) and United Torah Judaism has 6.4% (8 seats).

Yisrael Beytenu receives around 6% of the vote (7 seats) and Labor-Gesher-Meretz takes 5.7% (7 seats). Yamina follows with 4.9% of the vote (6 seats).

The new tallies give the right-wing bloc 60 seats and the center-left bloc 53, with the remainder held by Yisrael Beytenu.

However, the results will likely shift over the coming hours and do not include the votes of soldiers or diplomats stationed abroad.