The answer with the police files .. Why Netanyahu offers to share power?

After failing to achieve a clear electoral victory twice in six months, Benjamin Netanyahu now seems to believe that he can only stay in power by sharing it.

Following Tuesday's inconclusive election, Netanyahu on Thursday offered to form a unity government to his main rival, Benny Gantz, a former general who emerged this year as a new face to challenge Netanyahu.

Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving prime minister. In the past ten years he has dominated Israeli politics alone and virtually without competition.

On Thursday, he hinted that he wanted an agreement to rotate the premiership with Gantz, citing an agreement in the 1980s between leftist former prime minister Shimon Peres and Netanyahu's Likud predecessor Yitzhak Shamir. The two rotated prime ministers between 1984 and 1988.

But the Gantz party rejected the offer and renewed its electoral pledge not to enter into an alliance with the prime minister, who faces charges of corruption.

But why does Netanyahu insist on remaining in power even if it costs him to share it with his political opponents?

After a long investigation by the police, Israel's attorney general announced his intention to indict Netanyahu in three corruption cases.

He is expected to decide whether to formally charge the charges by the end of 2019. But there is a pre-trial hearing in October, during which Netanyahu can oppose the charges.

Netanyahu denies wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a crackdown. Earlier, his allies signaled their willingness to support him with parliamentary immunity. But that scenario is likely to cause popular condemnation, and it now seems to be far off.

Power-sharing would allow Netanyahu a fifth term to secure his political survival, and would also say that he has a general mandate to address criminal charges that may be brought soon.

If Netanyahu remains prime minister or rotates, the law does not have to step down even if he is formally charged.

But if he is forced to form a unity government with Gantz, he may face more political and public pressure to quit.

Some analysts have suggested the possibility of a deal under which Netanyahu steps down in exchange for a reduction in charges.

It is premature to declare the end of the Netanyahu era, but it may be the beginning of the end.

His Likud party won 31 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, while Gantz's White Blue won 33.

Neither has a majority to govern without relying on other parties, but Gantz appears to be in a stronger position.

Netanyahu leads a group of right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties that currently have 55 seats. Gantz's centrist leftist bloc is likely to win 57 seats.

Gantz said he envisaged a "liberal" coalition, a reference to a secular coalition that excludes Netanyahu's hard-line religious allies.

The Maker of Kings
Avigdor Lieberman is an extreme right-wing immigrant from the former Soviet Union who lives in a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Lieberman is a secularist and takes a tough line on issues related to security and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He made a big gamble by refusing to join a Netanyahu-led coalition government after the April elections as a matter of principle, leading to a second election. But he made gains by increasing the number of seats in his party.

Lieberman may end up being a kingmaker. He could conclude an agreement to support Netanyahu. But it can also be excluded altogether.

The mechanism of forming the government
After the final results are announced, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will consult with all party leaders on who they prefer for the post, then choose who he thinks has the best chance of forming a coalition government.

This person will have 42 days to form a government. If he cannot, as Netanyahu did in the aftermath of the April elections, the president will assign another politician to form a coalition.