Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday evening called opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time since the elections to the 25th Knesset.
Lapid congratulated Netanyahu on his victory in the elections and informed the Likud chairman that he had instructed all branches of his office to prepare an orderly transfer of power.
"The State of Israel is above all political considerations. I wish Netanyahu success for the sake of the people of Israel and the State of Israel," Lapid said.
Sources close to the Prime Minister said that he had waited until the counting of votes had concluded and the results were completely clear before calling the Likud chairman.
Earlier on Thursday evening, the Central Elections Committee submitted its report with the preliminary results of the election. The results will be finalized next week, after recounts of contested ballot boxes are conducted and investigations into any claims of fraud completed.
The results showed that the Meretz Party will not be part of the 25th Knesset, having fallen 4,124 votes shy of the 3.25% minimum threshold required for entry into the Knesset.
After all the votes were counted, the right-wing bloc won 64 seats and the left-Arab camp won 56 seats.
The Likud won 32 seats, Yesh Atid - 24, the Religious Zionist Party - 14, National Unity - 12, Shas - 11, United Torah Judaism - 7, Yisrael Beytenu - 6, Ra'am - 5, Hadash-Ta'al - 5 and the Labor Party with 4 seats.
In addition to Meretz, the Balad Party, which split from Hadash-Ta’al moments before election slates were submitted, will also not be in the next Knesset.