Israeli's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a major challenge to hold onto power after with exit polls in Tuesday's national elections indicated that voters gave opposing parties a solid majority in the next parliament against his Likud party.
It is now left to be seen whether those disparate parties will be able form a government or if the electorate will have to return to the polls to break a possible deadlock.
The easiest path would involve Netanyahu's main rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, partnering with Arab-led parties, but that could prove politically difficult and potentially alienate other opposition factions.
Exit polls released early Wednesday by major Israeli TV stations suggested that Netanyahu's bloc and Eisenkot's each won about 51 seats, and Arab parties won about 18.
That would set the stage for weeks of bargaining before a prime minister is declared or another round of elections is called.
While Netanyahu's Likud could emerge as the largest party, voters, turned off by his alliance with the far-right and angry over draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews, appeared to have pared back his bloc's majority in parliament, putting his return to power in jeopardy.
Netanyahu, a hawkish right-winger, has served more than 19 years as Prime Minister of Israel across three separate periods, starting in 1996.
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