Wednesday’s decision came after President Reuven Rivlin’s attempts to negotiate a union government between Netanyahu and his main rival, Benny Gantz, failed.

Rivlin and Netanyahu were due to make statements later Wednesday.

Netanyahu faces an uphill fight. After a tight election, his Likud party, along with smaller allied parties, controls 55 seats, less than the required majority of 61 seats in parliament.

His former ally, the Israel Beitenu party, refuses to participate in a government with the ultra-religious partners of Netanyahu. Moderate opposition parties are unlikely to support Netanyahu.

Now he has up to six weeks to form a coalition. If it fails, Gantz will probably have a chance.

According to the final official results announced on Wednesday, Blue and White finished first with 33 seats in the 120-seat parliament, slightly ahead of 32 Likud seats. Even with the support of smaller allies, both parties do not reach the required majority.

A total of 55 lawmakers recommended that Netanyahu lead the next government, while 54 lined up behind Gantz. The main energy corridor is Avigdor Lieberman, whose group Yisrael Beitenu controls 8 seats. Lieberman has refused to support any candidate and is pushing for a unity government.

The corruption investigation against Netanyahu looms over the process. The Israeli attorney general recommended accusing Netanyahu of bribery, fraud and abuse of trust in a series of scandals.

Netanyahu, who denies acting badly, must attend a hearing with the attorney general next week, after which a final decision on the charges is expected. Legal experts say the probability of prosecution is high.

Under Israeli law, the president’s first option is given within six weeks to form a coalition. If it fails, you can choose an alternative candidate to try. After that, the majority of parliament could offer a third name for prime minister. And if that fails, Israel would be forced to hold its third election in less than a year.

Former military Chief Benny Gantz was projected to win 36 or 37 seats, with PM Benjamin Netanyahu taking 33 to 36. Having both men claim victory in the elections.

Allied to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Right-wing parties had a greater possibility of forming a government coalition, two exit polls predicted.

But a third exit poll predicted that the bloc would be tied with centre-left parties allied to Mr Gantz.

“We won! The Israeli public has had its say!” Blue and White said in a statement. “These elections have a clear winner and a clear loser.”

Mr Netanyahu was also celebrating at his party’s election headquarters in Tel Aviv.

“It is a night of colossal victory,” he said. “I’m very touched that, for the fifth time, the people of Israel have believed in me.”

Throughout Israel’s history, the country has always had coalition governments, no party has ever won a majority in Israel’s 120-seat parliament, the Knesset.

In Tel Aviv, a huge cheer went off as the first poll was released at the election night event for former military chief Benny Gantz.

His supporters expressed confidence that Israel could be on the brink of a new centre-ground government.

And an activist said amid the roars of celebration to a BBC reporter that “Change is on the way.”

But the outcome is far from clear. At the last election, the exit polls were dramatically wrong.

If there is a close result, that shows the real politics has started as both parties’ canvas Israel’s president for rights to start planning to assemble a coalition.