JERUSALEM: After elections two days ago, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies won a majority of seats in parliament, Israel's election commission announced on Thursday.

According to the commission's results, Netanyahu's right-wing faction won a total of 64 seats, helped by 32 victories for his Likud party, 18 for ultra-conservative parties, and 14 by a far-right coalition. The centrist opposition group, led by outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid, won 51 seats.

Just before the final results were announced, a Lapid spokesman said Lapid congratulated Netanyahu on his victory.

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The centrist Lapid was defeated in Tuesday's election, along with his unusual coalition of conservative, liberal and Arab politicians. During his 18-month tenure, he made diplomatic progress with Lebanon and Turkey and kept the economy humming.

However, as Jewish-Arab tensions in Israel increased as a result of the escalating Palestinian conflict, Netanyahu won re-election with a commanding parliamentary majority, helped by ultranationalist and religious parties.

It's time to impose order in this place. The time has come for a landowner," tweeted Itamar Ben-Gavir, a potential senior partner of Likud, the extreme right-wing religious Zionism party.

He was reacting to a stabbing reported by the Jerusalem police. In a separate incident in the West Bank, soldiers reportedly killed a 45-year-old man and an Islamic Jihad terrorist.

When asked about the second man's death, the military claimed he opened fire when Palestinians attacked him with rocks and petrol bombs.

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Ben-Gavir, a West Bank settler and a former member of Kach, a Jewish terrorist group on the terrorist watch lists of both Israel and the US, wants to become the police minister.

According to political sources quoted by the Israeli media, a new government may be formed by the middle of the month.

Recent coalitions have had lower parliamentary majority, making them more vulnerable to no-confidence motions. It was still unknown what position Ben-Gwir might hold in the future government as coalition-building talks had not yet begun. Both he and Netanyahu have vowed to serve all citizens since the election.

However, Ben-Riz Gwir concerns the 21% minority of Arab Jews and centre-left Jews, especially Palestinians, whose US-sponsored state talks with Israel broke down in 2014.

A US State Department spokesman on Wednesday stressed the nations' "shared values" while the public reserve of Washington's decision pending the formation of the new Israel coalition.

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"We expect all Israeli government officials to uphold the principles of an open, democratic society, which include respect and tolerance for all members of civil society, especially minority groups," the spokesman said.