Israeli president to try and resolve political deadlock
Political leaders in Israel are preparing to meet with the president, in a bid to convince him they are the best candidate to form a coalition government.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog will hold talks with smaller parties on the formation of a new government.
The consultations, which will be broadcast live, are due to begin on Wednesday afternoon with the Religious Zionist Party. This will be followed by talks with the ultra-Orthodox Shas party and the far-right Yisrael Beitenu (Israel is our Home), Herzog announced on Monday.
Consultations are then set to continue on Thursday morning, beginning with the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism alliance.
Next up is the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), the left-liberal Democrats, the Arab-dominated parties Raam and the United List, and the centre-right Together (Israel) alliance led by former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid.
Traditionally, the president tasks the candidate whom he believes has the best chance of securing a parliamentary majority with forming a government.
This does not necessarily have to be the leader of the largest party, which is incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu whose right-wing Likud party emerged as the largest in the recent parliamentary election, winning 27 of the 120 seats.
Opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot secured 21 seats with his newly founded party, Yashar.
However, as neither Netanyahu’s governing coalition nor the opposition bloc has the required majority of 61 seats, the political situation in Israel is deadlocked.
The two main party leaders are scheduled to meet Herzog separately on Thursday evening.
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The candidate appointed by the president has 28 days to form a coalition.
An extension of 14 days is possible. Other candidates can then be proposed, but if a coalition capable of securing a majority cannot be formed, a new election is held.
President Herzog has appealed to party leaders to be open to “creative solutions” to prevent that.
-with AAP
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