Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on course to secure 59 seats in the Israeli general election, putting his Likud party just two short of an overall majority according to a revised exit poll.
Netanyahu, who is seeking a record fifth term in office, hailed the election "the biggest win" of his life.
Despite finishing just shy of a majority, Netanyahu triumphantly addressed party supporters in Tel Aviv, promising that he would build "a strong national government".
Netanyahu said: "We must avoid any more elections. It's time to heal the rifts. It's time for reconciliation."
The election was the country's third national poll in under 12 months after efforts by party leaders to form a government following previous elections had failed.
Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving premier having been in office between 1996 and 1999 and again from 2009 to present day.
He is due to appear in court later in March to face corruption charges, but denies any wrongdoing.
The official results of the election will be released on Tuesday afternoon, but opposition Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz has already expressed disappointment at the exit poll projections, albeit without admitting defeat.
Gantz said: "I realise and share your feelings of disappointment and pain, for this isn't the result that we wanted to happen.
"[Israel] needs unity, it needs conciliation, it yearns for a leadership that unites, and that is something that we will continue to offer the Israeli public".
One of Netanyahu's pledges during the election was to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank, where over 600,000 Jews currently reside. These settlements are considered illegal under international law, which Israel has long disputed, but the US now considers them legal after the publishing of president Trump's peace plan for the Middle East this January.
The plan said that the US would "recognise Israeli sovereignty over the territory that my vision provides to be part of the State of Israel", including occupied territories in the West Bank.
