herzog

Israel’s Herzog accepts vote results, opens talks on forming a government

Israel's President Isaac Herzog has accepted the certified results of the October 27 parliamentary elections and begun consultations with party leaders on forming the next government. The move undercuts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to discredit the vote, in which his coalition lost its majority while Arab-led parties made historic gains of 19 seats. Neither Netanyahu's 53-seat bloc nor opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot's 48-seat bloc secured the 61 seats needed to govern, leaving coalition talks open.