Jerusalem: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today appeared headed for a record fourth term after his Likud party emerged as the surprise winner in Israel's general elections based on a campaign revolving around no compromise attitude on Palestine's statehood.

With nearly all votes counted, Netanyahu's party is set to emerge as the single largest party with 29 seats in the 120-member Parliament -- the Knesset -- five seats more than the closest rival the Zionist Union led by Isaac Herzog in a mandate considered a clear victory in the fractured Israeli polity.