After weeks of talks over a new Israeli government have gone around in circles, Benjamin Netanyahu’s rival Benny Gantz had just two days left Monday to form a coalition and become prime minister. Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White coalition achieved near parity in September’s repeat elections, but even with allied parties both fell short of the 61 seats needed to form a majority in parliament. Netanyahu was first given 28 days to form a coalition government but failed, so President Reuven Rivlin granted Gantz a similar timeframe.
