Israel’s political rivals may forge a unity Government after centrist Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni narrowly defeated Rightist Benjamin Netanyahu, but he seemed to have more allies, Israeli politicians said on Friday.

Such a power-share could help resolve an Israeli political stalemate after Tuesday’s parliamentary election, but still slow the efforts of US President Barack Obama to revive Israeli and Palestinian peace talks for a two-state solution.

Election results published on Thursday after a count of soldiers’ and prisoners’ ballots showed no change in the initial results, with Livni’s Kadima party winning 28 seats, and 27 for Netanyahu’s Likud.

The remaining seats were distributed among 10 smaller parties including the Left-wing Labor, headed by Defence Minister Ehud Barak. Once Israel’s dominant party, Labor registered its worst result in history, winning just 13 seats.

With such a close outcome, both leaders were vying for President Shimon Peres to nominate them as Prime Minister, which he will do only after consulting with political party leaders next week.

On the election night, Livni called on Netanyahu to join her in a national unity Government led by herself, something she offered last year before opting instead to call for an early election. Netanyahu said he wants to be Prime Minister.

A leading newspaper, Maariv, said talks were underway on a grand coalition of Kadima and Likud, with Labor. Together, these parties would command 68 seats in the 120-member Parliament, wrote Maariv’s senior political correspondent Ben Caspit. A possible outcome might be these three secular, mainstream parties agreeing to form an administration that would reform voting rules to curb small religious and fringe groups.

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