Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu claims victory in general elections

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed victory in the general elections held on Monday.

Exit polls indicated that Netanyahu is in a strong position to form the next government. The election, Israel’s third in less than a year, was called after inconclusive votes in April and September plunged the Jewish state into a political stalemate.

The surveys conducted by three Israeli networks gave Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party between 36 and 37 seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament. Likud’s main challenger, the centrist Blue and White party, was estimated to take 32 or 33. After the polls, Netanyahu tweeted ‘It’s a huge victory for Israel’.