JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said on Monday he would appoint the head of a blue-white party, Benny Gantz, to form a new government, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday night he had decided to reverse the mission.
"I have just informed the head of state that I have abandoned the formation of a government," Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud party, said in a video message posted on his Facebook page. .
Netanyahu's announcement came two days before the end of the first deadline to form a government in accordance with the law, following the parliamentary elections on September 17, which resulted in very close results.
The president's office said in a statement that all members of the Knesset (parliament) would be informed that "the president intends to entrust a blue-white president, MP Benny Gantz, to form the government as soon as possible."
The center-right Gantz party is the biggest winner in the election, but has not achieved the parliamentary majority needed to form a government alone. If Gantz also fails, new elections will be necessary, the third since April.