President Isaac Herzog began consultations with the heads of the parties Wednesday to determine and tap the lawmaker most fit to form a government.
Once assigned, the Knesset member will have 28 days to build a coalition, and if needed, could get an additional 14 days to achieve the goal.
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In the Netanyahu bloc, the situation is clear: Yitzchak Goldknopf, Moshe Gafni, Aryeh Deri, Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Avi Maoz are all expected to recommend Netanyahu, who will then be able to establish a government with 64 seats.
In the Center-Left bloc, however, the situation is more complex as its leaders are at odds with each other due to the exchange of accusations following the defeat in the election.
Yesh Atid will recommend Yair Lapid to form a government, as will the Labor Party led by Merav Michaeli, despite her criticism against Lapid in the wake of the defeat. Defense Minister Benny Gantz's State Party has decided not to recommend Lapid or any other candidate.
As chances of the Center-Left bloc forming a government are slim, consultations with its leaders are expected to be a formality and proceed speedily.
Contrary to the unity that characterized the right-wing parties in the past year, the Center-Left bloc is now moving into the opposition more divided than ever. The person expected to lead the opposition is Yair Lapid, whose main challenge will be to unite the member parties, which include Ze'ev Elkin and Gideon Sa'ar all the way to Arab lawmakers Ahmad Tibi and Ayman Odeh.
The right-wing bloc, which has already begun preliminary coalition negotiations, is expected to speed up the process even further if and when Netanyahu is tasked with forming a government. The decisive win of the right-wing bloc in the election makes him the clear choice.
So far, Netanyahu and the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox Shas party are at loggerheads with the far-Right Religious Zionism Party and the Haredi Ashkenazi United Torah Judaism, with the former group seeking to put off any major initiatives on judicial reforms, while the latter two demanding this be cemented into the coalition agreements prior to the swearing-in of the government later this month.
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