Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu has again fallen short of a parliamentary majority with his hard-line allies, final
election results confirmed Thursday, extending the country's year-old political deadlock and weakening the longtime leader as he prepares to go on trial for corruption charges.
The embattled Netanyahu had been looking for a decisive victory in Monday's vote, and initial exit polls had indicated his Likud party and smaller religious and nationalist allies had captured 60 seats, just one short of a majority required to form a new government.
Netanyahu triumphantly declared a “huge victory.”