I think that the “form the government” negotiations are still ongoing, but the calculus is that Likud + Conservative party equals certain victory for Bibi. Interesting that many media organs are still reporting that “Kadima won”, which is true in the narrowest sense, but not in a way that can lead to a leftist government.
The problem is that at best Likud alone will have as many seats as Kadima. President Peres is a member of Kadima and he would be within his rights to give Livni first crack at forming a new cabinet. If she succeeds Netanyahu is either a junior member of the coalition she puts together or out in the cold. If she fails to put together a coalition, then Netanyahu will get his chance to form a government.
That Likud fell seat short of a plurality could be very bad news. We will see.
Interesting explanation. So who gets asked first to try to form the govt is not without its importance. And by implication, the fact that Peres is the guy that does the asking? It’s very hard for people like us who don’t live in parliamentary systems to grasp the subtleties of parliamentary forms of govt.