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| Netanyahu to form Israel cabinet | Netanyahu to form Israel cabinet |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the right-of-centre Likud party, will be asked to form Israel's next government. | Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the right-of-centre Likud party, will be asked to form Israel's next government. |
| President Shimon Peres had been trying to persuade Israel's main parties to form a power-sharing government. | President Shimon Peres had been trying to persuade Israel's main parties to form a power-sharing government. |
| But Tzipi Livni, leader of the centrist Kadima, suggested she would rather be in opposition than join a government led by Mr Netanyahu. | But Tzipi Livni, leader of the centrist Kadima, suggested she would rather be in opposition than join a government led by Mr Netanyahu. |
| The Likud leader has the support of religious and right-wing parties in the Israeli parliament. | The Likud leader has the support of religious and right-wing parties in the Israeli parliament. |
| Kadima narrowly defeated Likud in the election held on 10 February, but Likud's wider backing put them in a stronger position to form a new government. | |
| Mr Netanyahu's position was bolstered on Thursday when the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party, which came third in the election, said it wanted him to be prime minister. | |
| Mr Peres has been in talks with leaders from all political parties, and correspondents say he had been trying to garner support for a power-sharing government involving both Mr Netanyahu and Ms Livni. | |
| But minutes before the news came out that the Likud leader would be asked to form a government, Ms Livni released a statement saying what was being proposed was a government "without political vision, a government with no values". | |
| "I will not be a pawn in a government that would be against our ideals," she said. | |
| Mr Peres is due to officially ask Mr Netanyahu to form a government shortly. | |
| He will then have six weeks to sew together a coalition, and could yet try to persuade Ms Livni to join him. |