Netanyahu calls for government without 'anti-Zionist Arab parties'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu neither claimed victory nor conceded defeat in a brief speech to supporters early on Wednesday.

Instead, he called for a "strong Zionist government" that would exclude Palestinian Israeli parties.

"There won't and cannot be a government supported by anti-Zionist Arab parties who deny the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, who glorify bloodthirsty terrorists who murder our soldiers," Netanyahu said, as reported by Haaretz. 

The comment appears to be a message to Netanyahu's rivals in the Blue and White alliance, which needs the support of the Palestinian Joint List party, to form a ruling coalition.

The Joint List may have won as many as 15 seats, according to exit polls.

Both Netanyahu's Likud and the Blue and White party, led by Benny Gantz, have won between 30 and 34 seats each, falling short of an outright majority in the 120-seat parliament.