President Reuven Rivlin chooses another candidate to build a government after Benjamin Netanyahu fails to meet deadline

Israel’s president has tasked the head of the opposition, Yair Lapid, with forming a government after Benjamin Netanyahu failed to do so, leaving the country’s longest-serving leader facing a fresh challenge to his historic hold on power.

Netanyahu’s rightwing Likud party won the most seats in a March election and was given 28 days to build a majority coalition government. But that deadline passed on Tuesday, allowing Reuven Rivlin to choose another candidate.

Veteran leader proves unable to create a coalition after inconclusive election on 23 March

Benjamin Netanyahu has failed to form a coalition government, extending a two-year political deadlock in Israel – and putting the country’s longest-serving leader back on the defensive as his rivals move to unseat him.

Following an inconclusive snap election on 23 March – the fourth since 2019 – the 71-year-old leader had hoped to clinch what would be a unique and historic partnership in Israeli politics.

The Israeli prime minister’s efforts to remain in power face a double-pronged challenge, as he attends a Jerusalem courtroom for his corruption trial. Meanwhile critical talks on his political future were held after last month’s inconclusive election.

The witness testimony and evidence stage of a case assessing whether the 71-year-old leader is guilty of bribery, fraud and breach of trust – repeatedly delayed because of the pandemic - began on Monday morning

• Netanyahu in court as Israel's lawmakers mull over his political fate

With close to 90% of votes counted, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party leads but will struggle to form government

Near-complete results from Israel’s fourth snap election suggested yet another stalemate, with Benjamin Netanyahu scrambling to cobble together a coalition by partnering with extreme nationalist, hardline religious and far-right parties.

With close to 90% of votes counted by Wednesday evening, the prime minister’s Likud party was clearly leading with about 30 seats. The opposition head, Yair Lapid, had roughly 18.

Analysis: Israel’s election is pushing the PM towards a historic and incongruous political move

He built a hugely successful career scaremongering among Israelis about politicians from the country’s Arab minority presenting a threat from the inside. Now, Benjamin Netanyahu’s rhetoric might have come back to haunt him: election results suggest the leader’s fate may have fallen into the hands of a small party of Islamists.

With most votes tallied, the latest national election – Israel’s fourth within the span of two years – looks on course for further deadlock. Neither Netanyahu nor the opposition leader, Yair Lapid, have a clear majority to form a coalition government.

Netanyahu’s Likud party is ahead in polls, but predictions are unreliable as many voters remain undecided

Israelis are voting in their fourth national election in two years, the result of an unprecedented political deadlock that has seen the country’s longest-serving leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, face off against multiple rivals.

This time round, the prime minister is hoping that voters will credit him for a world-beating coronavirus vaccination campaign that has seen Israel reopen shops, bar and restaurants while simultaneously pushing down infection rates.

Failure of fractious coalition government to pass budget triggers snap election and plunges country into more political chaos

Israel has tumbled into a fourth round of elections within the space of two years after efforts to keep a fractious coalition government intact failed.

Beset by infighting and distrust, the government was unable to pass a budget by a midnight deadline on Tuesday (10pm GMT), triggering a snap election next March and lurching the country back into a protracted political crisis.