Israel election : Netanyahu hails huge victory

In the early hour of wednesday, the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Natanyahu has claimed victory before the final count. Read his statement below

"Against all odds, we achieved this huge victory," Netanyahu told cheering supporters. "Now we should form a strong and stable government that will be able to take care of the security, safety and welfare of each and every citizen of Israel."

The Zionist Union hit back, accusing the Likud party of misleading.

"The rightist bloc has shrunk. Everything is possible until the real results are in, when we can know which parties passed the electoral threshold and which government we can form," it said in a statement. "All the spins and statements are premature."

Official results are not expected until next week, and the process of building coalitions could take much longer.

Israel is ready for change, said Gabriel Sassoon, foreign communications adviser for the Herzog campaign.

"The fat lady has far from sung in this case. We do not know," he said. " The parties are neck and neck and it's a matter of coalition negotiations and let me tell you, it's entirely possible to form a center-left coalition at this point. Israel is tired of nine long years of Netanyahu."

Election ballots are for political parties rather than individual candidates. Israel has a proportional representation system, meaning a coalition government is likely to be formed within its 120-seat Knesset.