Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz are jostling over the terms of a unity government, after the country’s second election in a year ended in deadlock.
Local media say both men’s parties failed to win enough votes on Tuesday to build a coalition with a majority.
Mr Netanyahu urged Mr Gantz to start negotiations on a joint administration.
Mr Gantz rebuffed the idea, calling it spin. He said he wanted a unity government – but only one led by him.
His party has ruled out joining a coalition led by Mr Netanyahu, who faces possible corruption charges.
At a ceremony attended by both party leaders in Jerusalem, President Reuven Rivlin said he had heard “loud and clear the voices calling for a broad and stable national unity government” and praised the prime minister for “joining that call”.
Mr Rivlin will hold consultations with party representatives before nominating a candidate whom he believes has the best chance of forming a government.
Official results have been slow to be released by the Central Election Committee, with only 68.6 per cent of votes counted by 16:23 (13:23 GMT) on Thursday.
Mr Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party is 0.77 per cent ahead of Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party. The Joint List, an alliance of Arab parties, is in third place, the ultra-Orthodox Shas party in fourth, and the secular nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party in fifth.
The CEC tally does not say how this translates into seats in the 120-seat Knesset (parliament) but Israeli media reported that Blue and White was on track to win 33 seats, two more than Likud.
A centre-left bloc led by Mr Gantz was projected to control 57 seats and a bloc of right-wing and religious parties allied to Mr Netanyahu looked set to have 55.
Neither would therefore be able to form a majority coalition without support from Yisrael Beiteinu, whose leader Avigdor Lieberman has called for a “liberal” unity government including Likud and Blue and White.
Mr Lieberman prevented Mr Netanyahu from forming a majority coalition after the last election in April because he refused to back down in a longstanding dispute with religious parties over exempting ultra-Orthodox men from military service.
In a video released on Thursday, Mr Netanyahu said that, “to his regret”, the election results showed he would not be able to establish a right-wing government. -BBC
