Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party voiced confidence on Tuesday that he would become Israel's next prime minister despite election exit polls that gave a narrow lead to the rival Kadima party.

"Benjamin Netanyahu will be the next prime minister," a the right-wing Likud said in a statement after voting ended.

"The results of the election proved that the path of the Likud and the national camp won," it said, referring to exit poll projections that a bloc of right-wing parties would secure enough votes for a parliamentary majority and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's centrist Kadima would fall short.