JERUSALEM: Israel’s president on Wednesday tasked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with forming a new government after last week’s deadlocked elections, his office announced.
The announcement followed a joint meeting between President Reuven Rivlin, Netanyahu and the premier’s challenger Benny Gantz.
Netanyahu will have 28 days to form a government, with a possible two-week extension.
If all attempts fail, Rivlin can then assign the task to someone else.
Rivlin has been urging Netanyahu and Gantz to form a unity government, but a compromise appears a long way off.
Final results from September 17 elections gave Gantz’s centrist Blue and White 33 seats, ahead of Likud’s 32 out of parliament’s 120.
Neither has a clear path to a majority coalition.
Netanyahu received the endorsement of 55 members of parliament for the post of prime minister after the election, while Gantz received 54.
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Israel president tasks Netanyahu to form new govt: statement
Israel president tasks Netanyahu to form new govt: statement
- Netanyahu will have 28 days to form a government
- Neither Netanyahu or Gantz has a clear path to a majority coalition
Algeria to return its ambassador to Niger after Sahel rift
ALGIERS: Algeria said on Thursday it would return its ambassador to Niger, in a sign of thawing relations after a nearly year-long rift triggered by Algiers shooting down a Malian drone.
The announcement came after a diplomatic crisis between Algeria and its neighbors in the Sahel.
The Algerian foreign ministry said in a statement its envoy was set to immediately return to Niamey, announcing that his Nigerien counterpart had already resumed his duties in Algiers.
Niger — along with Mali and Burkina Faso — withdrew their ambassadors to Algeria after Algiers downed a Malian army drone in April last year, and Algeria responded in kind by withdrawing its own ambassadors.
Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have developed close ties in recent years, forming a confederation, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), in 2023.
Mali said the drone was brought down while in its own territory near the Algerian border, but Algiers said the aircraft had violated its airspace, citing radar data.
The return of both ambassadors would “promote resuming political dialogue,” Algiers said, as well as bolstering “fraternal relations, cooperation and good neighborliness.”
But tensions between Algeria and Mali remain high, with their airspace closed to one another and Bamako accusing Algiers of helping to foment regional “terrorism.”
The announcement came after a diplomatic crisis between Algeria and its neighbors in the Sahel.
The Algerian foreign ministry said in a statement its envoy was set to immediately return to Niamey, announcing that his Nigerien counterpart had already resumed his duties in Algiers.
Niger — along with Mali and Burkina Faso — withdrew their ambassadors to Algeria after Algiers downed a Malian army drone in April last year, and Algeria responded in kind by withdrawing its own ambassadors.
Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have developed close ties in recent years, forming a confederation, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), in 2023.
Mali said the drone was brought down while in its own territory near the Algerian border, but Algiers said the aircraft had violated its airspace, citing radar data.
The return of both ambassadors would “promote resuming political dialogue,” Algiers said, as well as bolstering “fraternal relations, cooperation and good neighborliness.”
But tensions between Algeria and Mali remain high, with their airspace closed to one another and Bamako accusing Algiers of helping to foment regional “terrorism.”
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