Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday received the official final results of last week’s general election, which produced no decisive winner. L-R Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party, Reuven Rivlin, President of Israel and Benny Gantz of the Blue and White party during talks The centrist Blue and White party led by Benny Gantz finished with a one-seat lead, taking 33 of the parliament’s 120 seats. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party gained one more seat than the preliminary results showed, finishing with 32 seats after six ballot boxes were disqualified over voter fraud. In the wider picture of who is more likely to be tapped to form a government, the numbers of seats in the party alliances backing each candidate remained the same, with Netanyahu holding a one-seat edge. This is because the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, which backs Netanyahu, finished with one less seat than the preliminary results had given it. Overall, 55 Israeli lawmakers from the right-wing and religious bloc have endorsed Netanyahu and 54 from parties in the center-left bloc have backed Gantz. Israel’s election ‘was too close call’, Netanyahu left teetering Witness absence stalls trial of four suspects in Ombatse killings Neither candidate is backed by enough lawmakers to form a government, which would need the support of at least 61 members. Rivlin was set later Wednesday to hold his second meeting this week with both Netanyahu and Gantz and may announce his decision of whom he has chosen to try to build a coalition. Since the current situation shows a stalemate between the two sides, Rivlin has been pushing the pair to reach an agreement to form a unity government that would include both of their parties. Blue and White have repeatedly said it will not sit in a government led by Netanyahu, who faces indictments over corruption charges. Source: NAN

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