Israel's Netanyahu urges right-wing parties to form coalition
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he delivers a speech to supporters following the announcement of exit polls in Israel's general election at his Likud party headquarters in Jerusalem
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on right-wing parties on Wednesday to join him in a governing coalition, in his first speech since elections last week.
The vote, Israel's fourth in two years, delivered the veteran premier's Likud 30 seats in the 120-seat parliament, making it the biggest party -- but a majority of 61 is required to form a government.
Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, faces a bloc of 57 lawmakers led by centrist part Yesh Atid, who are seeking to end his record-breaking 12 years in power.
Both camps are short of an overall majority, and Netanyahu is reaching out to small, undeclared parties which could take his government over the line.
In a brief televised address on Wednesday, Netanyahu insisted that "the people have given a majority to the right, with 65 seats" and urged undecided right-wing leaders to "come back home" and join a coalition.
"Let's put our differences aside to form, together, a stable government of the right, as the people want," he said.
The hard-right Yamina party of Naftali Bennett, with seven seats, could potentially join the six lawmakers of the New Hope party of Gideon Saar to help the premier form a majority.
Both Bennett and Saar are former Netanyahu allies.
Saar has repeatedly ruled out joining a Netanyahu administration, tweeting again on Wednesday that he would "neither join nor support a government led by Netanyahu".
Bennett has yet to say whether he would join a government led by his former boss.
Yamina said in a statement Wednesday that Bennett would "make every effort to form a stable government to save Israel from chaos".
Israel's President Reuven Rivlin said Monday he would pick a candidate by April 7 to form the next government.