The Likud party rejected a call by Kadima Thursday night to join a national unity government headed by Kadima, in the wake of election results that showed Kadima to be the biggest party in the Knesset, with a one-seat advantage over Likud. The Likud could form a religious-nationalist coalition of 65 Members of Knesset, while a center-left coalition led by Kadima would not have a majority, with only 55 mandates.

According to a Likud statement, "The Kadima announcement is pathetic, since it is finally clear that a definte majority of Israelis wants Netanyahu as prime minister."