Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu places a note in the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City after casting his ballot for the parliamentary election January 22, 2013. (Reuters photo)

UPDATE AT MIDNIGHT: The Jerusalem Post reports at midnight eastern time: “With 99% of votes tallied, Right and Left blocs tie with 60 seats each; voter turnout 66.6% – Likud-Beytenu receive 31 seats, Labor 19, Bayit Yehudi and Shas 11, Livni and Meretz 6 each, UAL-Taal 5, Hadash 4, Kadima 2

ORIGINAL POST: Official results are not yet in….I’ll have them for you when they are…..but the final exit polls suggest a humbling blow to Netanyahu and his center-right Likud-Beitenu partys….it looks like the parties of the right will have only 61 seats combined…..the parties of the left appear to have 59 seats….as I mentioned earlier in the day, first-time candidate Yair Lapid and his new center-left party Yesh Atid — which means, “there is a future” — is the rising star of the night, seemingly having zoomed out of nowhere to perhaps be the second-most powerful party in the State of Israel….now remember, it’s not finall….it’s still possible for the final numbers to be worse for Netanyahu, and better for the left….it is now possible for Netanyahu not to be able to form a governing coalition….at the very least, it will be challenge putting together — and holding together — a stable governing coalition….rough night for him….and it’s not over yet.