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Netanyahu to be new Prime Minister of Israel

20 February 2009 13:44 (UTC +04:00)

Tel-Aviv-APA. Two Israeli parties recommended to President Shimon Peres that he name Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next government, bringing the party closer to commanding a majority in the 120-member Knesset.
â€œNetanyahu will be prime minister, but it will be a Netanyahu-Livni government,â€ said Avigdor Lieberman, head of Yisrael Beitenu, the third-largest party in parliament with 15 seats. He called on the former prime minister to bring Foreign Minister Tzipi Livniâ€™s Kadima Party into his government.
Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party that commands 11 seats said he told Peres that â€œNetanyahu will form the next government, bring in the partners and formulate the guidelines.â€
Peres is meeting with the 12 elected political parties to hear their recommendations for prime minister before he decides who should lead the next government. He plans to meet all the parties by the end of today.
The Feb. 10 elections gave Kadima a one-seat lead over Likud, leaving neither with a parliamentary majority and both in need of coalition partners. With the backing of Likud, Shas, Lieberman and the Jewish Home party, Netanyahu has 56 seats.
Livni and Netanyahu met with Peres in Jerusalem last night, after the president was informed by the Central Elections Committee that the results of the vote were published in the official government registry.