Israel: Exit polls show near dead heat
UPDATED:Mar 17, 2015 21:28 GMT
Preliminary exit poll estimates released by Israel's three major broadcasters late Tuesday show an election too close to call.
Channel 2 Israel reports the Likud party, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has a slight lead over the Zionist Union, led by Isaac Herzog -- 28 seats, over 27 seats. Channels 10 and 1 show the two tied with 27 seats each.
The incumbent said his camp prevailed.
"Against all odds: a great victory for the Likud. A major victory for the people of Israel!" Netanyahu tweeted soon after the estimates were released.
The Zionist Union responded quickly, saying in a statement that the Likud party "keeps 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. All the spins and statements are premature. A negotiating team has been formed in an effort to form a government led by Herzog," it read.
Millions of Israelis cast their votes to determine their country's next Prime Minister and the makeup of its parliament.
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.
CNN's Elise Labott described the early results as a stunning turnaround for Netanyahu, who took a sharp turn toward the right during the final days of the hotly-contested campaign.
"It seems to have worked. He seems to have energized that right-wing base and now he is neck-and-neck with Isaac Herzog, even inching a little bit ahead of him,"