Israel coalition govt talks expand to left: report

[WorldNews]

[attach=full]20433[/attach]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, tasked three weeks ago with forming Israel's next government, fell short Wednesday of striking a coalition with rightwing partners after reports emerged of talks with a centre-left party. Netanyahu's rightwing Likud party won Israel's March 17 election but without a majority, and President Reuven Rivlin gave him until April 22 to form a coalition, as stipulated by the law. Public television reported on Monday that Netanyahu and Isaac Herzog, who heads the Zionist Union and was Netanyahu's main challenger in the vote, had met secretly to discuss the possibility of a national unity government. Herzog has not explicitly ruled out a unity government but said his party would form part of the opposition.

 

Continue reading...