Polling suggests the race for prime minister will be tight, as Benjamin Netanyahu runs against Benny Gantz

• Full story: Netanyahu appears on track for victory despite tied result

7.11am BST

Our correspondent, Oliver Holmes, has this wrap of the night’s results.

Related: Israel election: Netanyahu appears on track for victory despite tied result

7.08am BST

It appears that Arab parties have lost three seats in the Knesset in this election, after calls within the Arab community, which makes up almost a fifth of Israel’s population, to boycott the election.

Likud was censured on Tuesday for sending monitors with body-cameras to polling stations with Arab constituents, which Arab politicians condemned as voter intimidation. A Likud party official defended the move, saying the cameras were deployed to ensure there would be no vote rigging.

Major parties neck and neck but incumbent has path to form majority government with right-wing allies

Benjamin Netanyahu was on track on Wednesday morning to become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, despite his Likud party winning the same number of seats as his rivals.

With 97% of votes counted, both Likud and the Blue and White party, led by former army general Benny Gantz, had won 35 seats in the 120-seat parliament, the Knesset.