Raoul Wootliff is the The Times of Israel s political correspondent.
President Reuven Rivlin (R) meets Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid at the President s Residence in Jerusalem, May 5, 2021. (Haim Zach/GPO)
President Reuven Rivlin announced Wednesday that he had tasked Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid with forming Israel’s next government, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day earlier acknowledged he had failed to build a coalition.
Lapid, like Netanyahu before him, now has 28 days to try and form a government, though the new prime minister-designate faces an uphill battle to complete the task.
In a televised statement from his official residence, Rivlin said his “main consideration” in picking Lapid was that he had the best chance of forming a government that can win the Knesset’s backing, though this, the president said, would be difficult.