Israel's President to meet factions, pick nominee to form government

Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog, said on Tuesday he will begin consulting all elected parties on Wednesday before tasking a candidate with forming the next government, Reuters reports.

The meetings, planned over three days, are set to begin after the President receives the official results of Israel’s fifth election in less than four years.

Once the President picks a candidate to assemble a new government, the nominee will have 28 days to talk to potential coalition partners, with a possible 14-day extension.

The final tally published by the Central Elections Committee showed veteran leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial over corruption charges he denies, likely to receive the nomination and secure a comeback. He is now buoyed by far-right and religious parties that include ultranationalist lawmaker, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

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Netanyahu held an informal meeting with Ben-Gvir on Monday, where the two discussed forming “a full-on right wing government”, Ben-Gvir said in tweet.

Ben-Gvir, who was convicted in 2007 of racist incitement against Arabs and support for Kach, a group on the Israeli and US terrorism blacklists, has said he wants to be police minister.

Israeli election and the possible come-back of Netanyahu – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]