The conservative Likud party of opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has come out on top in Israel's parliamentary election, according to forecasts based on exit polls.
Likud won 30 to 31 of 120 seats, according to TV forecasts from Tuesday evening.
Incumbent Prime Minister Yair Lapid's Future Party came in second place with 24 seats, according to the forecasts.
The right-wing religious camp headed by Netanyahu won a narrow majority of 61 to 62 seats in the country's fifth election in three and a half years.
According to the Central Elections Committee, turnout was 66.3% by 1800 GMT - the highest so far since 1999. A total of 6.8 million people were eligible to vote.
Forecasts see the Religious Zionist Party of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir in third place with 14 to 15 seats. The far-right alliance is seen as a possible kingmaker.
Preliminary final results were not expected to be given by the election committee before Thursday. Previous elections have shown that the picture can still shift until all votes are finally counted.
Once the official final results are in, President Isaac Herzog will determine who will be given the job of forming a government. The candidate then has four weeks to form a coalition.
As after last year's election, however, it could take weeks or months before a government is in place. At the time, Netanyahu had first been given the mandate to form a government, but was unable to forge a coalition.
The Mediterranean country of 9 million people has been in an almost permanent political crisis that has lasted for years.
Past elections have often led to unclear majorities.
The current eight-party coalition led by former prime minister Naftali Bennett fell apart in June after losing its majority after only 12 months. Subsequently, Foreign Minister Lapid took over as head of government.
The highly unusual alliance was supported by parties from the right to the left spectrum, and an Arab party was also in the government for the first time.
Opposition leader Netanyahu, who has been accused of corruption, wants to return to the post of prime minister. The 73-year-old has been head of government in Israel several times, for a total of more than a decade and a half.
Netanyahu is seeking to form an ultra-right religious coalition that could help him pass legislation to avoid conviction.
The party landscape in Israel is highly fragmented and interest-driven. Even parties from similar camps are often unable to form alliances.
Apart from differences over content, this is also due to personal disputes. In addition, there is a low percentage hurdle that has to be cleared to enter parliament: just 3.25%, while in many countries it is 5%.
