Netanyahu wins election

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his Likud party won the country's parliamentary elections on Tuesday.

Speaking to his supporters in Tel Aviv, the Israeli prime minister called the election results a great victory.

“Despite everything, we achieved a great victory for the national camp led by the Likud Party,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying by Reuters.

In response, the opposition “Zionist Camp” urged not to rush to declare victory until the final voting results are published.

Inevitability of coalition

Exit polls predicted Likud and its main rival, the center-left Zionist Camp party, would have the same number of seats, 27 each.

However, according to the results of counting almost 100% of the ballots, Likud receives 30 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, and the Zionist Camp receives 24 seats.

One way or another, none of the parties will be enough to form a government, so both leaders have already announced the start of consultations with other participants in the electoral race about forming a ruling coalition.

Netanyahu said he is already negotiating with other center-right parties.

Opposition leader Itzhak Herzog, in turn, stressed that the election results prove the influence of his alliance and the inability to ignore the opinion of his party.