Israel’s president taps opposition leader Lapid to form new gov’t
Al Jazeera
PM Netanyahu’s political future in doubt as president asks leader of centrist Yesh Atid party to try to form coalition.
Israel’s president has tapped opposition leader Yair Lapid to form a new government – a step that could lead to the end of the lengthy rule of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. President Reuven Rivlin announced his decision on live television on Wednesday, a day after Netanyahu failed to cobble together a governing coalition by a midnight deadline. Rivlin spent the day consulting with all of the parties elected to Israel’s parliament and announced that he believes Lapid has the best chance of forming a coalition, as the former finance minister had the pledged support of 56 of parliament’s 120 members – still short of a majority.