Israel President opens talks ahead of expected Netanyahu mandate

Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, will on Sunday mandate a nominee to form a government, his office said, a move expected to see the return of former premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, following the victory of his right-wing alliance in last week’s election, Reuter’s reports.

Herzog began consultations with political parties on Wednesday, meeting representatives from Netanyahu’s Likud party, to be followed by meetings with other party representatives over the coming days. He said he expected to complete the talks on Friday and assign the task of forming a government on Sunday.

Last week’s election saw Netanyahu end a stalemate after five elections in less than four years. Along with smaller far-right and religious parties, Likud took 64 seats in the 120-seat Parliament, giving Netanyahu a solid majority and easing the process of forming a government.

It is likely to be one of the most right-wing in Israeli history.

“The State of Israel has gone through a long period of uncertainty. There is a public yearning to form a government as early as possible,” Yariv Levin, a Netanyahu loyalist, said during the meeting at the President’s Jerusalem residence.

“There is a clear mandate from most of the public to form a right-wing government,” he said.

Netanyahu will have 28 days to talk to potential coalition partners, with a possible 14-day extension.

His victorious bloc includes the Religious Zionism slate, co-led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, a firebrand ultranationalist who was convicted in 2007 of racist incitement and support for Kach, a group on the Israeli and US terror blacklists.

Earlier on Wednesday, Herzog issued a statement dismissing local reports that he was pushing for a unity government with outgoing centrist premier, Yair Lapid, and National Unity party leader, Benny Gantz.

“The election results are clear, and we must all respect them,” he said, denying he favoured any particular government.

READ: Outgoing DM warns of rising extremism in Israel