Benjamin Netanyahu was battling for political survival after exit polls showed his party had fallen short of security a parliamentary majority in Israel‘s unprecedented repeat election.
The election’s apparent kingmaker, Avigdor Lieberman, said he will insist upon a secular unity government between the prime minister’s Likud party and Benny Gantz‘s Blue and White party.
Based on partial results Likud is currently one seat Blue and White's tally of 32 seats out of the 120 in parliament. Mr Gantz’s party has previously ruled out a coalition with Likud while Mr Netanyahu remains leader.
Here's how we covered developments as they happened:
Israel's two main political parties were deadlocked on Wednesday after an unprecedented repeat election.
Benjamin Netanyahu was fighting to hold on to his job as prime minister after exit polls showed the race was too close to call.
Here is some analysis of the exit polls and the election so far from Bel Trew, our correspondent in Tel Aviv:
Netanyahu suffers devastating blow after hard-right coalition fails to win majority, exit polls show
None of the polls found that his right-wing bloc would be able to secure the 61-seat majority needed to form a governmentMr Netanyahu's main challenger, centrist Benny Gantz, said it appeared from the exit polls Israel's longest-serving leader was defeated, but only official results would tell.
Mr Gantz, a former armed forces chief, beamed with confidence as he told a rally of his Blue and White Party it appeared "we fulfilled our mission", and he pledged to work towards formation of a unity government.
Mr Netanyahu, he said, apparently "did not succeed in his mission" to win a fifth term. "We will await the actual results," Mr Gantz, 60, said.
Mr Netanyahu's Likud party and Mr Gantz's Blue and White both had 32 seats each of the parliament's 120, with more than 90 per cent of votes counted, Israeli media is reporting.
As the results came in, the election's apparent kingmaker, Avigdor Lieberman, insisted the overall picture was unlikely to change.
He also demanded a secular "liberal" government shorn of the religious and ultra-Orthodox allies the prime minister has long relied upon.
"The conclusion is clear, everything we said throughout the campaign is coming true," he said outside his home in the West Bank settlement of Nokdim. "There is one and only option: a national unity government that is broad and liberal and we will not join any other option."
Mr Gantz, a former military chief, has ruled out sitting with a Likud party led by Mr Netanyahu at a time when the prime minister is expected to be indicted on corruption charges in the coming weeks. It raised the specter of an alternate Likud candidate rising to challenge Mr Netanyahu, though most of its senior officials have thus far pledged to stand solidly behind their leader.
Mr Liberman is now "the linchpin," wrote Nahum Barnea, a prominent columnist in the Yediot Ahronot daily.
"I don't think that anyone is prepared to risk a third election, not even for Netanyahu," Mr Barnea added. "Maybe the time has come to say goodbye."
Many voters who spoke to The Independent in the run-up to the election blamed Mr Netanyahu for failing to form a ruling coalition:
‘Time to switch out the king’: Israeli voters disenchanted with Netanyahu
Incumbent prime minister may have gone into this election all guns blazing, but some Israeli voters remain unconvincedThe partial results released on Wednesday by the Central Election Commission were based on a tally of 56 per cent of the potential electorate. Overall turnout was 69.4 per cent.
According to the partial results, Likud with its natural allies of religious and ultra-nationalist parties mustered just 56 seats — or five short of the required majority.
Mr Gantz's Blue and White and its center-left allies garnered 55 seats, placing Mr Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu and its nine seats in the middle as the deciding factor.
Eliran Ben Iolo, 32, a taxi driver in Tel Aviv, said he was voting for the Blue and White party.
He told Bel Trew:
He told Bel Trew:
[I] want Gantz to replace Bibi [a nickname for Mr Netanyahu] and also to take care of our brothers in the south, near Gaza, who every 14 minutes have to run into the shelters.We need to put an end to that, once and for all. To hit them hard, and not deliver them $30m in a suitcase. Whoever throws rockets needs to be hit. To kill them. The Shabak [Shin Bet, Israel's security agency] can do it.There’s more optimism now. They need to bring down the taxes. Bring down everything, for the rich, the middle class and the poor.
The joint list of Arab parties, who have never sat in an Israeli government, also finished strong according to the partial results, which indicated they had earned 12 seats to become the third-largest party in parliament.
Should a unity government be formed, its leader Ayman Odeh would become the country's next opposition leader, an official state position that would grant him an audience with visiting dignitaries, a state-funded bodyguard, monthly consultations with the prime minister and a platform to rebut his speeches in parliament.
Ali Jaffaly, an Arab who owns a store in Jaffa, said he was voting for the joint list of Arab parties.
He told Bel Trew:
Last time I voted for Blue and White because there wasn’t a united Arab list, it was divided.I thought, my purpose is to replace Bibi, there needs to be a change. This time I’ll vote the joint list, because now they’re united.
I really hope that even if Bibi won’t be replaced, the joint list will somehow make a difference in the government. If they have 11, 12 mandates it’ll really make a difference.
If Ayman Oudeh joins Gantz, I’d be supportive. So that there will be someone to make a difference to move things there. There are pros and cons but I think there will be more benefit for them to join the government than to stay alone.
In Gaza, Palestinians awaited the results of the vote.
"This election affects many things in our life," said Mohamad Abdul Hay Hasaneen, a janitor in the city of Khan Younis. "There might be limited escalations after the election, but I don't think this would result in a full war."
Mr Netanyahu, the longest serving leader is Israeli history, had desperately sought an outright majority with his hard-line and ultra-Orthodox allies in hopes of passing legislation to give him immunity from his expected indictment.
Israel's attorney general has recommended charging Mr Netanyahu with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three scandals, pending a long-awaited hearing scheduled in the coming weeks.
A formal indictment would increase the pressure on Mr Netanyahu to step aside if he does not have immunity.
Sami Haj, 21, a delivery worker in Jaffa, told The Independent earlier this week he did not know if he would vote.
He said: "There's no one to vote for. What's important to us is that there will be peace. People have stopped talking about it.
"There are people here and there who went to vote, but still, no there's nothing really meaningful happening.
It doesn't matter, it will be Bibi or no one.
It doesn't matter, it will be Bibi or no one.
"Today, the situation is that Bibi is an incitor. Anyone who goes against Bibi, I'm not talking about in the Arab sector, I'm talking about the Jewish sector - anyone who goes against Bibi is considered a traitor.
"Every year it only gets worse."
Benny Gantz has said he has already contacted the leaders of the Democratic Union and Labor-Gesher to see if talks can begin on building a unity government, Haaretz reports.
“I plan to speak to everyone,” he reportedly told supporters at a post-election rally.
The unifying cry across the leaflet-strewn polling stations of Israel, a country deeply divided, was “please - no more elections”, write Bel Trew and Shira Rubin.
From leftists on the beach front of Tel Aviv to hard-right voters in Israeli settlements, no one could see the point in the country heading to the polls for the second time in less than six months.
All were also horrified at the possibility of yet another round of voting, as opinion polls released over the weekend predicted that once again there would be no outright winner sparking fears of a third election.
Many of those who spoke to The Independent blamed the incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the country’s longest serving premier and despite winning the last elections in April, failed to form a ruling coalition.
‘Time to switch out the king’: Israeli voters disenchanted with Netanyahu
Incumbent prime minister may have gone into this election all guns blazing, but some Israeli voters remain unconvincedPrivate security guards shot and killed a Palestinian women wielding a knife at a checkpoint near Jerusalem, Israeli police have said.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the woman was taken to hospital where she died of her wounds, and that Wednesday's incident at the Qalandia checkpoint was "being looked into".
The Palestinian health ministry said video showed three Israeli security forces approaching the woman and one of them shooting her.
Additional reporting by AP
A story from the run-up to the election...
The United Nations has blasted Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise to annex nearly a third of the occupied West Bank, calling it “devastating” to peace with the Palestinians, as world leaders warned it would only spark more conflict in the war-torn region, writes Bel Trew.
Just a week before elections, Mr Netanyahu pledged to enforce Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and north Dead Sea area if he is re-elected.
Global leaders condemn Netanyahu’s pledges to annex Jordan Valley, in occupied West Bank
The United Nations said the plan would destroy chances of regional peace and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisisIran has been suspended from international judo competition over its boycott of fights with Israeli opponents.
It comes less than a month after Saeid Mollaei, the world champion, quit the Iranian team in protest at the boycott.
The International Judo Federation said on Wednesday that Iran is suspended ahead of a full hearing.
Iran's judo federation is accused of discriminating against Israeli athletes and breaking rules over manipulating competition results.
Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to have realised he was in trouble in this election, as our reporting from early on election day says.
A frenzied prime minister sounded the alarm about high voter turnout among Arab-Israelis and the left, calling an emergency party meeting and urging his right-wing supporters to cast their ballots, as he fought to cling on to power in an unprecedented second election, write Bel Trew and Shira Rubin.
Falling back on a tried-and-tested election tack, the embattled prime minister warned his support base that they faced the prospect of an Arab-controlled government if they did not heed his call to vote.
