Netanyahu claims close election victory.

As counting gets underway in Israel’s unprecedented third election in 11 months, initial exit polls projected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party as the winners.

But even if the final results bear out these projections from Israel’s three main news channels, Netanyahu will still need to find partners to form a coalition government with a majority in the 120-seat parliament.

Just after polling stations closed across Israel at 10 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET), the Israeli TV stations flashed the result of their individual exit polls — all showing Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party ahead of former military chief, Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White Party.

Exit polls in Israel, as elsewhere, come with a disclaimer. Sometimes they prove to be extremely prescient, while other times they are woefully wide of the mark. Even so, politicians and voters alike still take them seriously and watch them closely.

The poll for Kan News, Israel’s public broadcast network, projects Likud winning 36 seats and Netanyahu’s main challenger, Gantz’s Blue and White Party, winning 33 seats.

Israel’s Channel 12 News projection shows Likud taking 37 seats and Blue and White with 33, while Channel 13 News forecasts 37 seats for Netanyahu’s party and 32 seats for Gantz’s.

Israel’s right-wing parties claimed victory after the exit polls projected a bloc led by Netanyahu — made up of his Likud, the hardline right-wing Yamina, and the two religious parties — on track to secure 60 seats.

It is not clear at this stage from where Netanyahu will take the extra seat, or seats, he would need to get a majority in parliament.