January 30, 2013
Peres receives official Knesset elections results
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Israeli President Shimon Peres, right, with retired Supreme Court justice Elyakim Rubinstein, chairman of the Central Elections Committee, in Jerusalem on Jan. 30. Photo by Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Israeli President Shimon Peres received the official results of the elections for the 19th Knesset.
The chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, delivered the results to the president's residence in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening.
Peres was scheduled to begin meeting with the parties elected to the Israeli parliament immediately afterward, starting with the two top vote-getters -- the combined Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu list and the new Yesh Atid party. He will meet Thursday with the rest of the parties elected in order of number of seats they won.
Each party will recommend to Peres the party leader it thinks should form the new government. Peres then will decide who has the best chance of forming a new government and announce who will form the new government.
He is expected to make the announcement on Friday. By law, the leader chosen will have 28 days to form a new government. If an extension is required, the president has the authority to grant an extra 14 days.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the Likud Party, is expected to receive the endorsement of the party leaders. It is also believed that he will attempt to quickly form a new government in order to attend the national policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and to meet with President Obama as the head of a new sitting government, The Jerusalem Post reported.
