Both blocs claim upper hand in crucial Israeli election | First Thing

Benjamin Netanyahu vows to form new coalition while opposition bloc leader says result shows prime minister should step down. Plus, a scathing review of Elon Musk’s AI-generated version of The OdysseyGood morning. Israel could be in for weeks of political haggling after exit polls and partial official results showed neither Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition nor the opposition bloc led by the former general Gadi Eisenkot had won enough seats to form a government.With 70% of the vote, or 4m ballots, counted so far, the Netanyahu bloc had 54 seats, the Eisenkot-led Change bloc 47 seats, and the Palestinian parties 19 seats. Sixty-one seats are needed for a majority.What have the two leaders said so far? Israel’s longest-serving prime minister vowed to assemble a coalition through agreements between his Likud party, far-right factions and Jewish religious parties. Eisenkot had said earlier in the evening that “people decided in favour of change” and Netanyahu should have “announced today his retirement from politics”.What does the increase in the Palestinian bloc mean? The election was marked by a record participation by Israeli citizens of Palestinian origin, a discriminated minority that makes up about 20% of the country’s population. Julian Borger explains from Nazareth that opposition leader Eisenkot will have to work with Arab-Israeli leaders to have a hope of governing. Millions of other Palestinians living under Israeli rule in the occupied West Bank and Gaza cannot vote.Here is what we know about the declared results so far. Our live coverage continues on the website.What else has Trump been saying about fossil fuels? Trump suggested on Tuesday that Venezuela would become the 51st US state as the president showed off a tanker he claimed had “1m barrels of oil on it” from the country, nine months after deposing its president. Continue reading...