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Agence France-Presse and GlobalPostMarch 2, 2013 15:00
Netanyahu gets 2 more weeks to form Israel coalition
Israel President Shimon Peres gives Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu time to form government.
Israel President Shimon Peres gives Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu time to form government.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, speaks with President Shimon Peres during a reception marking the opening of the 19th Knesset (Israeli parliament) on February 5, 2013 in Jerusalem. (GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)
Israeli President Shimon Peres on Saturday gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a two-week extension to form a new coalition government, after he failed to do so in an initial four-week period.
"I am giving you another two weeks, by law, to complete the task of forming the government," Peres told Netanyahu during a televised statement at the presidential residence.
After his Likud-Beitenu list emerged as the largest party in the January election, winning 31 of the Knesset's 120 seats, Netanyahu was on Feb. 2 tasked with forming a coalition.
Peres gave him the initial 28 days mandated by law for the task.
If the additional fortnight passes without Netanyahu managing to form a coalition government, Peres will then have to ask a different member of parliament to try to form a government.
The premier was reportedly leaning towards forging a coalition with the ultra-Orthodox parties as well as with Yesh Atid, which came second in the Jan. 22 vote, and with the far-right Jewish Home, which came fourth.
Netanyahu had so far managed to strike a deal only with the six-member centrist party HaTnuah to join his nascent coalition.
The PM said during a televised address that Jewish Home and Yesh Atid refused to join the coalition with the ultra-Orthodox elements, The Associated Press reported.
The AP said the ultra-Orthodox parties oppose ending mandatory military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox seminary students.
Netanyahu called the impasse as a "boycott," the Jerusalem Post said.
He called on parties to "unite rather than divide."
GlobalPost writer David Trifunov contributed to this report.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130302/netanyahu-gets-two-more-weeks-form-israel-coalition
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