Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, whose Kadima party was predicted by exit polls to score a narrow victory in Tuesday's Israeli election, invited chief rival Benjamin Netanyahu early Wednesday to join her in a national unity government, dpa reported.
"The nation has decided today - Kadima. All that remains is to respect the will of the voters and join a national unity government headed by me," Livni told hundreds of cheering, flag-waving supporters, hours after exit polls on three television channels showed Kadima winning a two-seat victory over Netanyahu's Likud.
Kadima, she said, had "changed the face of Israeli politics," uniting left and right.
"The way of Kadima is unity. We represent the common denominator of Israeli society," she said, adding, to a round of applause, that "the land of Israel does not belong to the right wing, just as peace does not belong to the left wing."
Shortly before Livni spoke, Netanyahu told his supporters that he would be the one to form the next government in Israel.
Exit polls Tuesday night gave Kadima 29 to 30 seats in the 120- seat Knesset, compared to 27 to 28 for the Likud, but as real results tricked in early Wednesday morning, Kadima's lead was cut to only one seat.
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