Over 300 tons of ballot slips and boxes go to waste after Israel's election day

As it became clear on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has won the Israeli national election, workers were busy cleaning up the waste accumulated on elections day: ballot slips and cardboard ballot boxes.

At the Central Election Committee logistical centre near Jerusalem, about 300 tons of papers carried by hundreds of trucks from voting stations all over Israel, will be disposed of or recycled in the coming days, the committee said.

Netanyahu secured a record fifth term in office despite running neck-and-neck with his challenger Benny Gantz, the country's three main television channels said on Wednesday.

With 97 per cent of the votes counted, neither of the candidates' parties had captured a ruling majority, but Netanyahu was clearly in a strong position to form a coalition government with other right-wing factions that have backed him.

The closely contested race was widely seen in Israel as a referendum on Netanyahu's character and record in the face of corruption allegations. He faces possible indictment in three graft cases and has denied wrongdoing in all of them.

The veteran right-wing leader's Likud party and Gantz's new centrist Blue and White party both won 35 seats, according to the Knesset website and the Israeli TV channels. That would mean a five-seat gain for Likud.