JERUSALEM — Israelis emboldened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a clear mandate in balloting on Tuesday, paving the way for him to lead a right-leaning and religious coalition that could be far easier to control, since his own party holds many more seats now.

But despite the resounding victory after Mr. Netanyahu’s hard-line statements in the campaign’s final days, the direction he will take in what would be his fourth term is as much a mystery as the man himself. While the new coalition will almost certainly be more purely conservative, it is also more narrowly tailored, potentially freeing its leader of the constraints that often guided his last government.

As he puts together a government in the next few weeks, Mr. Netanyahu may no longer have the center-left factions that he relied on to ease Israel’s relations with the world and that pushed him back into negotiations with the Palestinians in 2013. But he also has gotten rid of extremists in his own party, Likud, and shrunk the Jewish Home party, which he often placated over the last two years by expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Analysts said Mr. Netanyahu would undoubtedly continue his strong opposition to the Iranian nuclear program, but might well limit settlement construction and make other gestures to soothe the Palestinian situation, while also seeking to address calls to lower the cost of living. Crucial players in the coming coalition are a new center-right party and two ultra-Orthodox factions, whose kitchen-table concerns are sure to shift the overall agenda.