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Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday tasked opposition leader Jair Lapid with forming a new government.
Rivlin said at his official residence in Jerusalem that he had spoken to Lapid and given him the mandate.
Lapid now has four weeks to find enough partners for a majority.
Previously, the incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a new government after the ambiguous result of the parliamentary elections in March.
Lapid is the leader of the moderate Yesh Atid party and has the support of four smaller parties.
He has already announced that he is ready to share the post of prime minister with former Netanyahu ally Naftali Bennett.
Bennett is credited with the role of kingmaker, despite the fact that his right-wing Jamina party only has seven seats in parliament.
So far, however, there has been no agreement between Bennett and Lapid.
Bennett rejected Netanyahu's offer
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Netanyahu had actually sought to forge an alliance with Bennett's Jamina party and the far-right Religious Zionism party.
In order to get the 61 seats, he also wanted to get the conservative Islamic Raam party on board.
The Religious Zionism Party categorically ruled out any collaboration with Raam.
On Monday, Netanyahu made one last attempt at his exploratory talks and offered his former ally Bennett the office of head of government in an alternate model.
Bennett could become prime minister in the first year, Netanyahu offered.
It is about preventing a "left government" in Israel.
Bennett turned down the offer.
Should the Israeli parties fail to agree on a government, Netanyahu would remain in office until the next election.
Netanyahu, who has been in power for twelve years, is the first Israeli prime minister to stand trial for corruption.
He is accused of corruption, fraud and infidelity.