Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu to be invited to form next government
Nov 11, 2022
Tel Aviv [Israel], November 11 : Benjamin Netanyahu will be invited to form the next government paving the way for him to take up the position of Israel's Prime Minister for a record sixth time, Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced Friday.
According to CNN, Netanyahu, on taking the position will return as Israel's longest-serving leader after he will be given the mandate formally on Sunday by President Herzog.
Notably, the Israeli President made the announcement after meeting with all the factions in parliament. After the invitation, Benjamin Netanyahu will have 28 days to form a new government, with the possibility of a 14-day extension if required as per Israeli law, reported CNN.
Netanyahu clinched victory in the national election as final results showed that the pro-Netanyahu bloc had got 64 Knesset seats, Times of Israel reported.
Israelis headed to the ballots in an unprecedented fifth election since 2019, as the country's political system has been immobilized for almost four years. The parliament has 120 seats.
Over 6.7 million eligible voters cast their votes in 12,495 ballots, according to figures issued by the Central Elections Committee. Some 18,000 police officers were deployed throughout the country for preventing fraud attempts, manage traffic and security.
Current PM Yair Lapid told Netanyahu he's instructed all departments of the Prime Minister's Office to prepare for an orderly transfer of power.
Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, sought to return to power with his right-wing Likud party in a far-right and Jewish ultra-Orthodox coalition.
Netanyahu had served as prime minister for 12 consecutive years before being ousted in June 2021 by a cross-partisan coalition led by Lapid.
