Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni led exit polls after Tuesday's parliamentary election but her Kadima party's two-seat lead over right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu left it too close to call who would be prime minister. The polls released by three Israeli television channels showed Kadima ahead with 29-30 seats followed closely by Likud party with 27-28 seats in the 120-member Knesset, or parliament.
Whatever the final outcome, which could take until well into Wednesday to confirm, jubilant Kadima supporters broke out into dances and jumps of joy at the exit poll projections. If Livni wins she will form Israel's next coalition government and become the first woman leader since Golda Meir in the 1970s.
Netanyahu dismissed the exit polls and voiced confidence that he would become Israel's next prime minister. His Likud party had seemed to be cruising to victory until Livni and her centre-left coalition launched a three-week assault on the Gaza Strip in late December that won popular support in Israel despite an international outcry over the 1,300 Palestinians killed in the Hamas-ruled enclave.
However, some analysts noted that soldiers, whose votes could account for a couple of seats, had not been counted in exit polls and that could favor Netanyahu as tallying continues through into Wednesday.
One television station put the right-left split at 64 seats for the right to 56 for the left, which could deny Livni the premiership and persuade President Shimon Peres to ask Netanyahu to try to form a coalition government.