Israel's president tasked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday with assembling a new government after power-sharing talks with his strongest rival, Benny Gantz, failed following an inconclusive election.
But right-wing Likud party chief Netanyahu, facing a looming indictment on corruption allegations he denies, still has no clear path to a fifth term after emerging from the Sept. 17 ballot, the second this year, short of a parliamentary majority.
Accepting the mandate from President Reuven Rivlin at a televised ceremony, a politically weakened Netanyahu said his chances of success were only marginally higher than those of Gantz, a former general who heads the Blue and White party.
In his remarks, Netanyahu seemed to envision a scenario in which he and Gantz would be able to take another stab at power-sharing once it became clear there was no way out of the current deadlock, save for a third election that few in Israel wanted.