Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged victorious yesterday after Israel's third election in a year despite a looming corruption trial, dismaying the Palestinians who were angered by his hard-line campaign pledges.

The election left the veteran right-winger in prime position to form a government and end a year of political deadlock, after similar votes in April and September proved inconclusive.

The central election committee said it had counted 90 percent of the vote, with breakdowns of the result in the media showing Netanyahu's Likud party with 36 seats in Israel's 120-member parliament. That would mark the party's best-ever result under Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister and its first to be indicted in office.

Netanyahu's bloc is likely still one or two votes short of a majority, but his party spokesman said it was confident of luring defectors. Likud's main challenger, the centrist Blue and White party, was projected to win 32 seats.

While there remains no guarantee that Netanyahu can form a coalition, he hailed the election as a "giant" success. "This is the most important victory of my life," he told supporters in Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu campaigned on his tough position towards the Palestinians and on expanding Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. He also pledged to annex the Jordan Valley, which Palestinians see as crucial for their future state, if he won.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the polls showed that "settlement, annexation and apartheid had won".

Blue and White's leader, Benny Gantz, stressed that regardless of the final tally Netanyahu is still due to go on trial on March 17 after being charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara seal election win with a kiss. REUTERS

Netanyahu's 'most important victory'