President Reuven Rivlin on Monday began post-election consultations with political parties that will lead to his appointment of a candidate to form a government, as updated vote tallies show Likud may drop to 35 seats.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nomination seemed virtually ensured after his right-wing Likud won the largest number of parliamentary seats in Tuesday's ballot, and his closest rival, Benny Gantz of the centrist Blue and White party, conceded defeat.
Just after the consultations began United Torah Judaism said it had gotten information that the update vote tallies show it was likely to gain an eighth seat at the expense of Likud, which would drop to 35. However, the Central Election Committee said it would not comment on ongoing counting procedures until the votes were certified.
Rivlin said he would announce his choice on Wednesday after meeting with all of the parties that captured seats in the 120-member Knesset. The process is just a formality, as Netanyahu already has the de facto support of a majority of MKs.
Under Israeli law, after consultations with the parties the president taps a legislator whom he believes has the best chance of forming a government, delegating 28 days, with a two-week extension if necessary, to complete the task.
Netanyahu said he intends to build a coalition with five far-right, right-wing and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties that would give a Likud-led government 65 seats, four more than the outgoing administration he heads.
Four of those parties have already said they would back Netanyahu, bringing his tally of seats to 60.
Speaking with representatives of the Blue and White party, Rivlin asked if they'd be willing to consider a unity government with Netanyahu.
"If you will be offered, without preconditions to join a government not formed by the man you have recommended [Gantz], for the benefit of the entire Israeli system, with all its groups and parts, there are many parts, and the contrasts between them are sometimes very acute, contrasts that we must live with. That being said, we have to cope with them. If you will be offered such a possibility, without preconditions, will you consider it?"
Number four on the Blue and White ticket, former IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi told the president in response: "I think that under these circumstances, in this reality, I think we will not be able to be a part of such a government. We can, of course, be considered by everyone as partners to anything that serves the entire population of Israel."
Former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman of the nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, which won five seats and meets Rivlin on Tuesday, has not formally declared he would join a Likud-led coalition.
But political commentators, noting Lieberman's sharp differences with left-wing and Arab parties whose support Gantz would need to govern, predicted he would sign up with Netanyahu after pressing for concessions in coalition negotiations.
Gantz, a former IDF chief of staff whose party won 35 parliamentary seats, would likely be next in line to try to put together a government if Netanyahu fails.
For the first time, Rivlin's consultations with the parties were being broadcast live as part of what he described as a display of transparency in what has historically been a closed-door process in Israel.
At the meeting with Likud representatives, Culture Minister Miri Regev noted Netanyahu had won re-election despite Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit's announcement in February that he plans to indict the prime minister in three graft cases.
Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing. He can still argue, at a pretrial hearing with Mendelblit whose date has not been set, against the filing of bribery and fraud charges against him.
The Israeli leader is under no legal obligation to resign if indicted.
