Netanyahu's party leads with 27 seats as 55% of votes counted: Israeli election committee

Israel's election committee announced that, with 55.4% of the votes counted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party has secured 27 seats, while Eisenkot's party has won 21 seats.

Netanyahu pledged early Wednesday to form a new government following the Knesset election results, which showed a close race.

He called for the establishment of a strong right-wing government and reiterated his refusal to form a coalition reliant on Arab parties' support.

Speaking to supporters in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Likud is the largest party in Israel and urged his followers not to be swayed by what he described as misleading propaganda, stressing that the right-wing bloc holds a significant majority that should be used to form a strong national government.