«Israeli» Elections: Bibi, Gantz Both Claim Victory in Polls

By Staff, Agencies

Exit polls in the “Israeli” entity suggest there will be no clear winner in the closely fought general election.

The centrist Blue and White alliance of former military chief Benny Gantz was projected to win 36 or 37 seats, with the Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu taking 33 to 36.

Both men have claimed victory.

Two exit polls predicted that right-wing parties allied to Netanyahu were more likely to be able to form a governing coalition.

But a third exit poll predicted that the bloc would be tied with Centre-left parties allied to Gantz.

A combination of Netanyahu's Likud and smaller right-wing parties allied to him had between 60 and 66 seats in the 120-seat parliament, three polls from “Israel's” main television stations showed.

Gantz and his Blue and White alliance along with other smaller parties had between 54 and 60 seats, according to the exit polls.

"We won! The 'Israeli' public has had its say!" Blue and White said in a statement. "These elections have a clear winner and a clear loser."

But at his party's election headquarters in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu was also celebrating.

"It is a night of colossal victory," he said. "I'm very touched that, for the fifth time, the people of ‘Israel’ have believed in me."

No party has ever won a majority in “Israel's” 120-seat parliament, the Knesset, and the country has always had coalition governments.

Exit polls have however proven to be unreliable in previous “Israeli” elections.

Final official results were not expected until early Wednesday.