With nearly all votes counted in elections for the Knesset, Israel's parliament, Benjamin Netanyahu's center-right Likud party has won at least a five-seat victory over its principal rival, the center-left Zionist Union.
Israeli media report Likud has 29 or 30 seats in the 120-member Knesset to the Zionist Union's 24 seats.
Exit polls by Israel's three main television channels initially showed Likud and the Zionist Union more or less tied. Shortly after midnight in Israel the Zionist Union Chairman Yitzhak Herzog predicted a return to power of the center-left.
But as the actual votes were counted the results were quite different.
Netanyahu must assemble a coalition of parties totaling at least 61 seats to form a new government.
If he succeeds in forming a coalition government, Netanyahu would begin a historic fourth term as prime minister of Israel.
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