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STORY: "I'm very happy, I hope it stays this way and that it will be good for all of us," said 34-year-old architect Nethanael Taieb.

With roughly 70% of votes counted, Netanyahu's conservative Likud and its likely religious and far-right allies were on pace to control a majority in parliament.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid's short-lived ruling coalition that hailed largely from the center-left appeared to collapse.

"I feel very disappointed, I expected a changed, I expected this government to remain in power and get stronger, that we will have a much better future and not a radical right wing government," said Mina Rabi, a retired Jerusalem resident.

Though the landscape could shift as the ballot count trickles in, the partial tally showed Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption he denies, leading a bloc of four parties taking 67 of the Knesset's 120 seats.