With 85% of ballots counted, Netanyahu’s Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies were on track to win 53 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, according to the BBC.

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said he expected to receive the official results next week, after which he would begin discussions with every faction: “We must do everything we can, certainly after yesterday, to avoid another round of elections.”