JERUSALEM -- Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Wednesday called on her right-wing rival Benjamin Netanyahu to join a Kadima-led unity government after Kadima party was polled leading the election.
Israel's Foreign Minister and Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni, reacts during election night rally in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Wednesday morning February 11, 2009. [Agencies]
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"Today all that remains is ... to do what is right for Israel at this time particularly in the face of the political, security and economic challenges both at home and abroad and to join a unity government led by us," Livni told supporters in Tel Aviv.
"Today the people have chosen Kadima," Livni said.
Exit polls released on Tuesday night showed that Livni's Kadima party won the most votes in Israel's general election.
According to the percentage of votes each party garnered in the15-hour-long election, Kadima won 30 seats in the 120-member parliament, while its main rival, the right-wing Likud party, got 28, showed a survey by Israeli TV Channel 10.
The poll also found that the ultranationalist Israel Beiteinu party and the center-left Labor party respectively gained 15 and 13 seats, and the ultra-Orthodox Shas party gathered 9 seats.