OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's 28-day mandate to form a government following inconclusive elections in March expired Wednesday, the presidency said, creating an opportunity for the premier's rivals to take power.
اضافة اعلان
Netanyahu, on trial over corruption charges he denies, had a 28-day window to secure a coalition following the March 23 vote, Israel's fourth in less than two years.
The 71-year-old's right-wing Likud party won the most seats in the vote, but he and his allies came up short of an absolute majority in the 120-seat
Knesset, Israel's parliament.
The results delivered by a deeply fractured electorate left Netanyahu with a daunting path towards 61 seats, as voters broadly chose not to reward him for a successful coronavirus vaccination campaign.
President
Reuven Rivlin's office said in a statement that Netanyahu had "informed (the presidency) that he was unable to form a government and so returned the mandate to the president."
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