Israel election: Netanyahu-led bloc in slight lead with more than 80% of votes counted

NEW: Netanyahu-led bloc holds a slight lead in Israel's election with more than 84% of votes counted, on 54 seats to the opposition's 49, but neither side is projected to win a majority, setting up tough coalition talks.

Netanyahu's bloc leads Israel's election, but nobody has a majority.

With 84.5 percent of votes counted, the Likud-led bloc sits on 54 seats, the opposition on 49. The magic number is 61 in a 120-seat Knesset, and neither side is close. You can see Netanyahu's supporters celebrating here, though what exactly they're celebrating is a fair question.

Because the real contest starts now. Netanyahu says he's ready to form a government. So does Gadi Eisenkot, the former military chief leading the centrist Yashar party. And Yousef Jabareen of the Arab-led Joint List is openly offering a Jewish-Arab partnership to anyone willing to push Netanyahu out.

A record number of absentee ballots won't be fully counted until Friday, so even these numbers can move. Turnout was the highest in decades, and the result is a country split almost exactly down the middle.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.