In a remarkable last-minute turnaround, Benjamin Netanyahu has achieved a resounding victory in the Israeli elections.
With 99 per cent of ballots counted by 6am this morning local time, Likud emerged with 30 seats, six ahead of the next largest party bloc, Zionist Union, which won 24 seats.
Exit polls released at around 10pm the night before had indicated parity between the two main blocks.
This represented a major turnaround for Likud since the last pre-election poll was conducted on Friday, and at 1am Mr Netanyahu was already claiming a victory “against all odds”.
