Israeli President Isaac Herzog has tasked opposition leader Benny Gantz with forming a new government, as neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc nor his rivals were able to secure a parliamentary majority following the recent election.
Gantz, a former military chief and leader of the National Unity party, now has a mandate to attempt to build a coalition. This move comes after Netanyahu, whose Likud party won the most seats, was unable to assemble a governing majority with his right-wing and religious allies. The fragmented results of last week's election have created a political stalemate.
President Herzog's decision reflects the difficulty in finding a stable majority in the Knesset. The president's role is typically to task the candidate most likely to form a government, often after consultations with party leaders.