Israel still ironing out who’s in charge

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu technically lost this month’s snap election, but the president of Israel still ordered him to form a new government on Thursday. Netanyahu’s Likud party won 32 seats in the 120-seat parliament while the Blue and White party of his political rival, Benny Gantz, won 33. But Gantz failed to reach a deal on a unity government, so President Reuven Rivlin asked Netanyahu to give it a try to avoid a third general election.

Is Netanyahu up for the task? He has up to six weeks to form the new government. Netanyahu tried unsuccessfully earlier in April and triggered the snap election. If he fails again, Rivlin will likely pass on the task to Gantz.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz’s analysis in WORLD Magazine of how Netanyahu leveraged the Golan Heights to try to win votes.

Onize Oduah

Onize is WORLD’s Africa reporter and deputy global desk chief. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate and earned a journalism degree from Minnesota State University–Moorhead. Onize resides in Abuja, Nigeria.

@onize_ohiks