Both of them announced victory .. Netanyahu and Gantz are fighting to form an Israeli government

Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival White House leader Benny Gantz announced victory in Israel's general election on Tuesday and produced close results, although preliminary indications favor the right to form the next government.

Opinion polls from three Israeli television stations said Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party would win between 33 and 36 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, while the center-left Blue and White list headed by Gantz 36 Or 37 seats.

According to samples gathered by two news stations close to the polling stations, the right-wing Likud-led camp will receive 60 seats and above, allowing it to form the new government. Samples published by another news agency showed that both camps had an equal number of retirees.

In anticipation of the initial official results due this morning, both competing camps across the media and in their respective electoral districts rushed to declare that they were the victors in the elections.

However, the published samples point to a lack of resolve between the right-wing and religious camps led by Netanyahu, and the center and left camp known as the White-White Alliance led by Benjamin Ghanes.

Confront the government
White House leader Benny Gantz told a crowd of his supporters at the coalition headquarters in Tel Aviv that his coalition was the winner. He urged the Israeli president to assign this alliance of several former generals to form the next government, calling on his rival Netanyahu to step aside.

He added that Netanyahu must respect the opinion of the voter, and that the largest party is who should be tasked to form a new government, saying that more than one million Israelis elected a blue-white alliance because he wants unity and does not want discrimination, as he put it.

"We are the victors in these elections, and we will work to establish the widest possible alliance," Gantz said.

However, Netanyahu, who is seeking a fifth term, hastened to announce the victory of the rightist camp, saying that the bloc of right-wing and religious parties had achieved a clear victory in the elections.

He added that he would start immediately and from this night contacts to form a coalition of government headed by the right and religious.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Elias Karam said that Beni Gantz's chances of forming a government were virtually non-existent, especially in view of the great decline of leftist parties, especially the Labor Party, which has fallen in an unprecedented manner. He also excluded the Arab parties from any possible alliance with them.

He pointed out that right-wing parties got seats in these elections hastened in turn to emphasize that they would recommend the Israeli president to mandate Netanyahu to form a government.

Against peace
In the first Palestinian reaction, PLO Secretary General Saeb said the Israelis voted "no for peace and yes for the occupation," adding that they had voted to preserve the status quo.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed his hope that the results of the Israeli elections will bring peace. Netanyahu has recently promised his supporters to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank if he wins a new term.

An Israeli poll showed that only 18 of the next Knesset members supported the so-called two-state solution.