Netanyahu misses deadline to form new Israeli government, reign could come to end

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s time in power could be at an end after he failed to form a new governing coalition in the country’s parliament by a midnight deadline Tuesday.

The Israeli parliament, called the Knesset, is composed of 120 lawmakers from several different parties, none of which have enough seats to form a majority on their own. For the past two years, no political party in Israel has been successful in creating a coalition to form a governing majority, resulting in four consecutive elections that have each ended in deadlock.

After an election, the party leader with the most support from lawmakers is asked by the president, who holds ceremonial powers, to form a coalition with other minority parties that has enough votes to create a majority. The party leader that can build a majority coalition becomes prime minister. As leader of the Likud Party, Netanyahu has held the position of prime minister for a total of 15 years, including the last 12 years consecutively.

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