Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has ended the uncertainty in Israel over the consequences of the general election last week. He again commissioned right-wing conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a government.
Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel since 2009, has a supporter in parliament with 55 deputies more than his opposition challenger Benny Gantz from the center-alliance Blue-White. However, neither Netanyahu's right-wing religious camp nor the center-left camp was able to achieve a majority in the Knesset with 120 seats. Negotiations on the formation of a grand coalition have failed. Given the difficult stalemate, political observers consider a third choice possible within a few months.
In the parliamentary elections on 17 September, Blau-Weiß became the strongest force after the official final result with 33 mandates. Netanyahu's Likud party received 32 seats, Israeli electoral committee announced - a mandate more than initially expected.
The background of the slight shift in favor of the Likud was, inter alia, alleged electoral fraud in six polling stations, the results of which would be disqualified, the electoral committee said. The strict religious party United Torah Judaism slipped from eight to seven seats. Turnout was 69.83 percent, slightly higher than the April poll of 68.46 percent.
Netanyahu had argued for the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state on Israel's side. Meanwhile, however, he has moved away from the idea of a two-state solution. Before the election he had declared that in case of victory he would annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank. This triggered international criticism, also from Germany. Jordan's King Abdullah II warned on a visit to Berlin that such a move by Israel would have a negative impact on relations with Jordan and Egypt. It is the only Arab countries that have signed a peace treaty with neighboring Israel.