whose leader yitzhak herzog has conceded victory. mr. netanyahu now has to build a coalition government. while there are 120 seats in parliament which is known as the knesset, the majority of 61 is needed to form a government. the center left zionist union which initially appeared to be a strong contender gained only 24 seats. and while prime minister netanyahu's lickkud party won 30 seats. the alliance of israeli arab dominated parties came third with 14 seats. let's cross over to jerusalem, the bbc's mark lowen has been following the election and mark he's denied not only the opinion polls but also the exit polls. . >> reporter: yes against all the odds there. remarkable victory for benjamin netanyahu. the opinion polls suggest he was trailing his opposition in the exit polls late last night showed it was a neck and necktie, and israel awoke on this beautifully sunny day to find they would have a fourth term of benjamin netanyahu as prime minister. what won it for him at the end? possibly because he taxed quite hard to the right toward

as you mentioned yitzhak herzog has called to congratulation as the next prime minister. he will call the parties and start to piece together a coalition government. as i said netanyahu has a lot of options for how he wants to piece that together. >> all right. or rihn lieberman, thank you. >>> john kerry in switzerland, a third day of nuclear talks with the iranian foreign minister. iran's leaders claiming that 90% of technical issues have been worked out. u.s. diplomats are saying there are, quote, still some tough, tough issues to address. u.s. senate republicans are not backing down from their controversial letter to the iranian leaders, no regrets at all is how the letter's author tom cot ton puts it. i want to bring in nick robertson who is at the negotiations at switzerland. what's the latest? >> reporter: yeah good morning, john. well the latest this morning, no meeting so far between the iranian foreign smin officer and secretary kerry. that's a little unusual, the last couple of days they will met well and truly by now, 8:00 a.m. in the morning they've met on th

its leader yitzhak herzog has conceded victory. he nows has to build a coalition government. 120 seats in parliament known as the knesset and the majority of 61 is needed to form a government. prime minister netanyahu's likud likud's party has won 30 seats and the zionist union won 24. the joint arab list allowance of israeli dominated party came third with 14 seats. let's cross over live now to jerusalem with bbc's mark lowen is there for us. he defies all of the exit polls. how did he do it? >> remarkable turnaround. the opinion polls put him behinds the center left zionist union. the exit polls as you say made it into a dead heat. pretty much equal shares between the two and then this morning, by this morning, israel awoke to the awareness they were going to have a fourth term of benjamin netanyahu. he's made a decisive victory. possibly he -- by tacking to the right at the last minute giving an interview saying it would not be a palestinian state under his watch. he shored up his core vote and persuaded undecided voters. the le

in the crush of a hectic campaign trail, the opposition leader leader, yitzhak herzog told me he's doing just that. >> we are very vibrant democracy democracy. yes, it's a referendum whether he will continue having change. >> reporter: winning means beating this man. benjamin netanyahu is a veteran of the campaign trail. these pictures filmed not by journalists, but his own likud party, are meant to show that he cares about cost of living issues. an area where the opposition feels he is weak. as the makers of this satirical tv show "wonderful country," mr. netanyahu is a slick showman, who lives the high life at the taxpayers' expense. ♪ filled at his official residence, including ones of pistachio ice cream, have made headlines. in election debates, the prime minister's ally defends him as a statesman, a leader to be trusted with the country's security amid uncertain times across the middle east. >> has incredible competent experience and leader. and opinion polls show that if you ask who can fit as prime minister of israel, who's more capable, that she is leading by enormous margins.

netanyahu's closest rival, yitzhak herzog, has sought to capitalize on public frustration with netanyahu's hardline policies. >> the public is generally frustrated. they want a change. the public asked for a change and they aspire for hopes. it is revolted by an fed up with the status quo. i am the only one who can change the country situation. i'm the only one who can get a mandate from the president to form a new government, to get a mandate from the president, i need to lead a clear majority over the coup a netanyahu. amy: running third place in israeli polls is the joint list, a coalition of four arab parties which could be decisive in forming a new coalition that would unseat netanyahu. the death toll from a category 5 cyclone that tore through the south pacific island nation of vanuatu has increased to 11, with thousands more displaced. the cyclone reportedly destroyed or damaged 90% of buildings in the capital port avila. aid workers who have reached the outer islands say the damage there is even worse. the hospital on the island of tanna is reportedly operating without a roof. the

. >> ifill: yitzhak herzog has been running in tandem with livni, they worked out a deal where they will be rotating and that will not happen now. how much is about post-electioning positioning? >> well, it's all about that because many i'm people are saying herzog is weak and not charismatic and they brought in tzipi livni because she has right wing credentials, seen as center right almost. the fact she's now withdrawing at some point, some people say it's a bit late to be doing that, it could harm them burks they're calculating that they want to sell themselves as one party. >> ifill: going to be a fascinating outcome to watch, martin seemungal for us in tel aviv tonight, thank you. >> woodruff: on israel's border, a morbid anniversary passes this week for a raging war which has claimed more than 200,000 lives and has left millions homeless. four years in, and there's no end in sight to the killing in syria. just today, new government air strikes hit a suburb of damascus. and, syrian president bashar al- assad insisted again he's staying, until his own countrymen decide otherwise. >> (

. >> ifill: yitzhak herzog has been running in tandem with livni, they worked out a deal where they will be rotating and that will not happen now. how much is about post-electioning positioning? >> well, it's all about that because many i'm people are saying herzog is weak and not charismatic and they brought in tzipi livni because she has right wing credentials, seen as center right almost. the fact she's now withdrawing at some point, some people say it's a bit late to be doing that, it could harm them burks they're calculating that they want to sell themselves as one party. >> ifill: going to be a fascinating outcome to watch, martin seemungal for us in tel aviv tonight, thank you. >> woodruff: on israel's border, a morbid anniversary passes this week for a raging war which has claimed more than 200,000 lives and has left millions homeless. four years in, and there's no end in sight to the killing in syria. just today, new government air strikes hit a suburb of damascus. and, syrian president bashar al- assad insisted again he's staying, until his own countrymen decith oerwise. >> ( t