On 2 March, Israel held its third parliamentary elections in a year in a bid to resolve the political deadlock. Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party nor the Blue and White alliance led by Benny Gantz were able to form a coalition government following two inconclusive votes in April and September of last year.
"Tomorrow, around midday, the president will assign the task of forming the government to head of [Blue and White party] Benny Gantz", President Reuven Rivlin's office said in a statement.
On Sunday afternoon, the president summoned the prime minister and the head of the Blue and White party for an "urgent conversation" to discuss the "possibility of forming a government immediately", according to the office's statement.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli prime minister called for Benny Gantz to unite under a national emergency government led by Netanyahu.
"Faced with a global and national emergency, we must unite forces and establish a strong and stable government that can pass a budget and make tough decisions. I returned and passed a motion this morning to Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz and his friends to join a national emergency government led by me", he said on Twitter.
The statement comes after head of Israel's Central Elections Committee Neal Hendel on 11 March presented President Reuven Rivlin with the official results of the 2 March general vote, paving the way for consultations that could end the almost a year-long political deadlock in the country.
The snap election’s final vote count was completed on the night of 10 March, seeing Likud in the lead with 36 places in the 120-seat parliament. Blue and White came in second with 33 mandates, followed by the Joint List of Arab parties with 15 seats, and the pro-Netanyahu Shas party with nine seats. Another ultra-religious party, United Torah Judaism, the bloc Labor-Gesher-Meretz, and the right-wing Yisrael Beytenu party each got seven seats. The right-wing Yamina alliance concludes the list with six mandates.