Reported by BBC World
Neither Gadi Eisenkot (left) or Benjamin Netanyahu (right) are projected to win enough seats for a majority
With 85% of votes counted after Tuesday's election, neither the incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, nor the bloc of his key challenger Gadi Eisenkot look set to win a majority.
In order to form a government, it looks likely one of the leading parties would have to break their campaign promises - meaning the most probable outcome may well be new elections.
More from the original report
Could Netanyahu persuade Eisenkot to join him in a national unity government?
Eisenkot would have to abandon his key platform to do so. He's framed himself as the only alternative to Netanyahu, and built his campaign on ousting him from power.
Just last night, he took to the stage at his campaign HQ and called on Netanyahu to "announce his retirement from political life today," telling the crowd that Israelis are fed up with Netanyahu's "culture of lies", "division and incitement".
But that was before one of the main exit polls - which had initially projected a lead for Eisenkot's bloc - was revised, and he was overtaken by Netanyahu.
Netanyahu could try to persuade Eisenkot's Yashar Party to join his Likud Party in a unity government by ditching the far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties he is currently in coalition with. But last night at Likud HQ he thanked his "loyal partners" and called for a "strong right-wing government" - remarks some have interpreted as meaning he intends to preserve his alliance with them.
One thing that could make a unity government more likely is a renewed conflict with Iran, which could place serious pressure on party leaders to put aside their political differences and work together. In the days prior to the election, Israeli and US media reported that Netanyahu was pushing for fresh strikes on the country, and had pressed Donald Trump to approve US involvement.
This would no-doubt be framed by Netanyahu's critics as an attempt to save his own political skin by entering another regional conflict.
This would be a seismic shift for Israeli politics. Only one…