Israel was set for crucial discussions Sunday on who should try to form the next government as last week's deadlocked
election threatened Benjamin Netanyahu's long reign as prime minister.
President Reuven Rivlin was to hold separate meetings with all the political parties voted into the latest parliament, to hear their recommendations on who should be the premier.
It was far from certain that whoever gets the task will succeed in cobbling together a coalition, and there have been repeated calls for a unity government to overcome the impasse.