The Israeli president instructs Netanyahu to form a new government

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new Israeli government.

The announcement came after the failure of talks to form a unity government between Netanyahu's Likud party and the center-right White Party led by Benny Gantz, although the results of the Knesset seats showed the Gantz bloc with 33 seats compared to 32 for the Likud bloc led by Netanyahu.

According to Israeli sources, the ability of Netanyahu to win the votes of the right and the formation of a majority and the refusal of Gantz to form a broad alliance with the Likud, contributed to the mandate of Netanyahu.

Under this mandate, Netanyahu will have 28 days to form a government, with the possibility of an extension of 14 days.

This evening, Netanyahu renewed Gantz's invitation to join him in the framework of a unity government after the President asked him to form a government.

The results of last week's Israeli general election resulted in Gantz's blue-white party leading by 33 seats, while Netanyahu's Likud came second with 32 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.

But the right-wing coalition led by Netanyahu was able to get the support of 55 deputies in the Knesset (parliament), while the center-left coalition led by Gantz won the support of 54 deputies.