'Kadima leads Likud in tight Israel vote'

Israel's centrist Kadima party headed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has a narrow lead over former premier Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud in Tuesday's election, according to television exit polls. The polls released by three Israeli television channels showed Kadima ahead with 29-30 seats followed closely by Likud party with 27-28 seats in the 120-member Knesset, or parliament.
Although jubilant Kadima supporters broke out into dances and jumps of joy at the exit poll projections, the results do not necessarily mean that Livni will form Israel's next coalition government. The Israeli political system does not specify that the party with the most seats forms a governing coalition and most analysts before the vote said Netanyahu was the best placed to gather support of 61 MPs in parliament.