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The right-wing conservative Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is forecast to become the strongest force in Israel's fourth parliamentary election within two years.
The Likud party came to 31 to 33 seats on Tuesday, slightly fewer than in the election a year ago.
The future party of opposition leader Jair Lapid came in second.
A clear government majority did not initially emerge.
But Netanyahu has a chance of forming a government.
That depends on whether the settler-friendly Jamina party takes Netanyahu's side.
Its chairman, Naftali Bennett, went into the election campaign with the aim of replacing Netanyahu.
However, he has not ruled out entering into a coalition with the latter.
With Jamina, the Netanyahu bloc would, according to forecasts, reach a majority of 61 out of 120 MPs.
Netanyahu has been in office since 2009.
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Behind the Likud, the future party of opposition leader Jair Lapid reached second place (16 to 18 seats).
Third place is still unclear.
The forecasts see either the strictly religious Schas party or the Arab party alliance.
According to the forecasts, a total of twelve parties jumped the hurdle of 3.25 percent necessary for entry into the Knesset.
Most of them had single-digit mandate numbers.
Israel has been in a permanent political crisis for more than two years.
After two elections in 2019, Netanyahu failed to form a government.
After the 2020 election, under the impression of the Corona crisis, he and his Likud formed a coalition with the blue-white center alliance of ex-army chief Benny Gantz.
The new parliamentary election was necessary after the coalition broke up in the dispute over the budget for 2021.
Preliminary final results are not expected until Friday
The electoral committee did not expect preliminary final results until Friday.
Because of the Corona crisis, special security rules applied, in Israel there is no postal vote like in Germany.
Infected people voted in special polling stations that were set up in buses, for example.
Even at Ben Gurion Airport, travelers could choose.
A total of around 6.6 million people were called to elect the members of the 24th Knesset in Jerusalem.
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The main topic of the election campaign was the Corona crisis.
Above all, Netanyahu wanted to score points with the rapid vaccination campaign in the country.
However, many have recently expressed dissatisfaction with its pandemic management.
The number of infections in Israel was sometimes significantly higher than in Germany, and citizens had to come to terms with long lockdown phases.
Netanyahu is also under pressure because of a corruption lawsuit against him.
According to the Israeli army, a missile was fired at Israel in the early evening.
There were therefore no victims or property damage.
According to media reports, the projectile went down in the region around Beerscheva.
Netanyahu was in the city at the time.