Netanyahu’s bloc falls to 53 seats as Israel counts 85.6 percent of ballots

Netanyahu’s bloc falls to 53 seats as Israel counts 85.6 percent of ballots Parties seeking to remove Benjamin Netanyahu hold a combined 67 seats in the latest projections, leaving the prime minister’s bloc eight seats short of a parliamentary majority. With officials having counted 85.6 percent of ballots, Netanyahu's Likud party leads with 26 seats, followed by Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar on 21. Together and the Arab-led Joint List have 12 each, while the United Arab List has gained a seat, taking its total to seven. At midnight, election officials will begin counting about 500,000 ballots from…