Israel’s ruling Likud party and the opposition Zionist Union both claim to have preformed well in the country’s general election but neither has emerged as clear winner.
Two television exit polls have given both sides 27 seats each in the 120-seat parliament (Knesset).
It means difficult coalition talks lie ahead
If earlier Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had thought his career was over due to poor opinion poll showings in the run-up to the election, just hours afters after voting had finished he was claiming victory over the way he had erased his centre-left rival’s lead.
“I am proud of people of Israel, that in this moment of truth they managed to distinguish between the essential and the superficial. And (managed) to stick to things that Tzipi Livni. These results will allow us to return to the power, but let’s wait for the final results”.
The final results are not due until possibly Friday .
Under Israel’s form of proportional representation no party has ever won an out
