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JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is racing to put together a governing coalition with a deadline only hours away.
Netanyahu was holding furious consultations Wednesday with the hawkish Jewish Home Party in order to secure a narrow 61-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament.
If he fails by the end of the day, President Reuven Rivlin must appoint someone else the task of forming a coalition.
After Netanyahu’s Likud Party won March 17 elections with 30 seats, it seemed he would have a relatively easy time forming a coalition.
But talks stalled and were thrown into a tizzy this week when Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman unexpectedly stepped down and announced his nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party was joining the opposition.
Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett has a rocky relationship with Netanyahu.
