Right and Center-Left leaders on Tuesday were wary of declaring victory in the March 23 elections, as the results were unable to give either bloc a clear lead right away.
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With 87% of the votes counted, Likud emerged as the winner with 30 seats, but as of early Wednesday morning, the right-wing bloc only had 52 mandates – short of the 61-seat majority necessary to form a government.
Yesh Atid secured 18 seats, with the Center-Left bloc gaining 56 mandates.
The results seem to rest the fate of the elections on Yamina's shoulders, as its seven seats could give either bloc the necessary majority.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the results, telling supporters on Tuesday that he received "a resounding mandate" to form a new right-wing government in what would be his sixth term in office.
He noted that Likud's lead in the vote was the "best lead any winning party has had over the next largest party in decades," adding that his goal now is to assemble a coalition "without ruling out anyone" who wants to support his party's value of fighting Iran's aggression and making "peace for peace" with Israel's Arab neighbors.
"We need to avoid a fifth election and form a stable government now," he vowed. "We must not go there," he said.
Meanwhile, New Hope Party's poor showing (six seats) prompted leader Gideon Sa'ar – who had left Likud after years of animosity with Netanyahu – to accept defeat. He promised that he would not give up on the over-arching goal of his campaign: unseating Netanyahu.
"We are not going to enter a government led by Netanyahu," Sa'ar said in his concession speech. "We should embrace every outcome, because it can all turn out alright in the end, what we did here was not out of blue. We did it together. "
Over at Yesh Atid, party leader Yair Lapid said, "this is a major achievement and we got here without a smear campaign against anyone else and we have maintained the hope of forming a government with every party in the [Center-Left] bloc.
"As of tonight [Tuesday] Netanyahu doesn't have 61 seats but our bloc does. That means we can keep radical forces out of the government. We will spare no effort to form a sane government for Israel."
Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, who had hoped for a double-digit victory but is set to win only seven seats, said he would "only do what is good for the state of Israel."
Throughout the campaign, Bennett has refrained from saying whether he would or would not join a government under Netanyahu. "I am a man of the Right, I'm a man who wants to give security to the people of Israel," he said.
Bennett, who holds the balance of power because he has yet to commit to sitting with either bloc, said he will "pursue a responsible national and right-wing policy. Now is the time to heal the rifts in Israeli society. What was is not what will be going forward. I will use the faith vested in me for one thing only – to do what is best for Israel.
"We will work to ensure the Israeli leadership will leave chaos behind in favor of stability."
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, whose party defeated the polls by not only clearing the four-seat electoral threshold but winning a solid seven seats, urged caution and called on his supporters to wait for the final results.
"I will always put Israel's interests before anything else. When you truly love your country you're not distracted by background noises. We chose to fight and we have something to show for it."
Labor leader Merav Michaeli, who safely delivered her party across the electoral threshold despite initial polls predicting Labor's demise, welcomed the results, saying, "I always believed it was possible but this could never have happened without our supporters.
"We labored, no pun intended, and we're back! But this is only the beginning," she said. "From the first moment, we spoke about a vision of peace and security, about national and personal security. We will change the life of every Israeli and we will fight for a better future."
Shas leader Aryeh Deri, whose party grow to nine seats, welcomed the results.
"I just spoke with the prime minister and we agreed that we will strive to form a government quickly, a Jewish-national government that preserves Israel's Jewish character," he said.
Deri called on Bennett and Sa'ar to "overcome all personal considerations" and return to the right-wing bloc, saying, "The public craves stability and it wants a right-wing government. This is not the time for prolonged negotiations."
United Torah Judaism leader Moshe Gafni, whose party held steady with seven seats in the next Knesset, said, "We thank God that despite the nonstop incitement against us, we were able to maintain our power."
Meanwhile, Yisrael Beytenu officials said they would wait for the final results before celebrating their achievements. So far, the party is expected to win six seats.
Party leader Avigdor Lieberman said his goal is "to form a stable, Zionist and liberal government," adding he was unwilling to forego these values.
"I also suggest everyone take a breath and wait for the 450,000 absentee votes waiting to be counted, as they have the power to make a dramatic difference. Placing bets at this time is unwise," he said.
Over the Religious Zionist Party, projected to win six seats, party leader Bezalel Smotrich said, "I hope this achievement will benefit the conservative camp and that we are able to form a government."
Smotrich's partner, Otzma Yehudit chief Itamar Ben Gvir – whose far-Right party has never before been able to cross the electoral threshold – said RZP's "represents unity and unity always wins."
"I have a dream: that a right-wing government will be formed here, one that works for the Jewish identity of the state. I have a dream: that our legal system will be reformed and that the attorney general will not be stronger than the prime minister. I have many dreams and God willing, soon a government will be formed here that takes action, not just talks about taking action."
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Meretz was able to breathe a sigh of relief as the results came in, saying it has cleared the electoral threshold to win five seats.
Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg said, "I'm proud of us. We turned things around. We proved that a large sector of the public thinks and is certain that no one can replace Meretz in the Knesset. That's 100% because of our values.
"It's still not sure that Netanyahu will form the government. We've been through this with other exit polls," she said.
Economic party head Yaron Zelekha who, as predicted, failed to enter parliament, said that while he was disappointed, his party was "in it for the long haul."
Danielle Roth-Avneri, Dan Lavie, Yaron Doron, Itsik Saban, Inon Ben Shushan, Yalon Yori, and Hanan Greenwood contributed to this report.
