Free Republic

President eager to see the appointment of a new government as quickly as possible; Netanyahu has 51 recommendations to Herzog's 24. President Reuven Rivlin began his consultations with representatives of the various parties on Sunday morning in an effort to form a governing coalition as quickly as possible. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the clear front-runner to form the next coalition, garnering on Sunday 51 recommendations versus Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog's 24 nominations. After having met with and heard the recommendations of Likud, Zionist Union, The Joint (Arab) List, Bayit Yehudi, Shas and United Torah Judaism on Sunday, Rivlin...

President to begin consultations with parties Sunday, task one MK with coalition formation. In an unprecedented measure, President Reuven Rivlin received special permission from Supreme Court Justice Salim Jourbran, Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, to begin consultations with delegations from the various party factions that will be represented in the 20th Knesset, prior to receiving official election results. According to the law, any one of the 120 members of Knesset, regardless of their party rank, may be selected to build a coalition. Although it currently appears as though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be endowed with the task, the...