• Israel, Rivlin: "A common government is possible"
  • Israel, Rivlin calls for a grand coalition government
  • Elections Israel, Gantz and Netanyahu before the puzzle

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25 September 2019The Israeli president, Reuven Rivlin, asked Benjamin Netanyahu to form the new government. "The responsibility for forming the next government is entrusted to the Prime Minister and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu," the presidency declares in a statement.

The decision comes after the failure of Rivlin's attempt to mediate for a unity government between Netanyahu and his principal rival, General Benny Gantz.

The road to the outgoing premier is all uphill. In the elections, the Likud obtained with the Allies only 55 seats out of the 120 in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. Another former ally, the Yisrael Beitenu party, refuses to be part of a government that includes the ultra-Orthodox.

Now Netanyahu has 6 weeks to form a governing coalition. If it fails, it will probably be Gantz, leader of the centrist Blue and White party, trying to create a new executive.