Israel's President Reuven Rivlin Nominates PM Benjamin Netanyahu to Form a Govt Following Latest Inconclusive Election

Israel's President Reuven Rivlin has nominated the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, today to try to form a government following the latest inconclusive election.

In a statement Rivlin said, no candidate has a realistic chance of forming a government that will have the confidence of the Knesset.

Rivlin's announcement came two weeks after Israel's fourth election in two years.

Netanyahu holds the most



support 52 seats in Israel's Knesset, but that is still short of a 61-seat majority.

The opposition leader, Yair Lapid, earned 45 seats. There were 16 abstentions and right-wing nationalist Naftali Bennett secured seven votes from his own Yamina party.

The nomination gives Netanyahu a new chance to try to salvage his career. He is the country's longest-serving Prime Minister with a record 12 consecutive years in office.