You need 61 seats to govern in the Knesset. Bibi's got 27, his opponent 26.
This is the first victory on the world stage in memory where the presumed winner's status is diminished by the fact of his narrowest of wins.
He has a clearer path to 61 at the moment because Kahlon, the government's former communications point man, formed a centrist party that did much better than expected. He had been projected to win 7-8 seats but took 10. He was offered the Finance Ministry by Bibi a few days ago in exchange for Kahlon's support to build a coalition. It is assumed by Bibi's crowd that Kahlon will indeed support him, but tonight Kahlon said he'd wait til all the results were in on Thursday. Kahlon's politics are the most at odds with the coalition Bibi is hoping to build.
The thing is, the 2nd and 3rd place parties are more aligned and together did far better than Bibi's narrow 1st place party. Kahlon finished a healthy 5, just a sliver behind 4th, who are aligned with Bibi.
The President of Israel will no doubt allow Bibi to form a coalition, but if Kahlon backs out, then the President would then have to go with a unity gov't made of the center-left.
This thing is technically not over yet, though it looks more promising for Bibi.
Personally, I think it's a historic moment for Kahlon. His party's platform is for a two-state solution. As we know, Bibi came out swinging from the very hard right at the end to exclaim in no uncertain terms that there would never be a Palestinian state on his watch. It's precariously at odds with Kahlon, who now gets to choose whether he puts his name to peace or to constant conflict. It's up to him.
