Netanyahu: We must form a right-wing government

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Wednesday to construct a new right-wing government following a tight election, emphasizing that no leader should govern with the backing of Israeli Arab parties, whose support surged in the polls. Netanyahu informed his enthusiastic supporters, "We must establish a robust government of the right, and the Jewish and Zionist majority must unite."

He stressed the impossibility of a government backed by Arab parties. The announcement came at 3 a.m. (0100 GMT), and while the speech was shorter than Netanyahu's usual, he refrained from explicitly claiming victory, only noting that Likud was projected to be the largest party.