Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading toward a narrow victory if current exit polls hold and he is able to form a coalition as anticipated.
To maintain power, Netanyahu will have to secure a majority of the 120 seats in the Knesset. All three of the exit polls taken after the election indicate that he should have just that, with 61 seats.
This assumes the further right Yamina Party will join his government. The party’s leader, Naftali Bennett, previously indicated he was open to joining a coalition government with either political bloc, so this should not be an insurmountable obstacle to Netanyahu assuming he is asked to form a government.
It should be said that just like in the U.S., exit polls in Israel are known to shift. So with the results this close, we’ll have to remain cautious and wait until all the votes are counted to be absolutely confident in the outcome.