Setting in motion the process of forming Israel's next government, President Shimon Peres met Wednesday night with representatives of the two parties that emerged from last week's elections with the most Knesset seats, dpa reported.
Under Israeli law, the president has to meet with all factions which won Knesset seats in an election, to hear who they recommend for the premiership. He can then task any legislator with the job, but gives the nod to the one who has the best chance of forming a coalition.
Both delegations who met with Peres Wednesday night, from the centrist Kadima party which won 28 seats in the election, and the hawkish Likud Party which won 27, recommended to the president that their leaders, respectively outgoing Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and outgoing Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu, be asked to set up the country's next government.
Netanyahu, however, is seen as having the better chances of forming a coalition, since the right-wing block, which the Likud leads, won a combined 65 seats in the 120 seat Knesset.
According to Channel 2 News Wednesday night, Netanyahu can count on the recommendations of 50 legislators, and Livni on only 28.
The key is the Yisrael Beteinu Party, whose representatives are to meet with Peres Thursday morning.
The party has not hinted at whom it will recommended, and its 15 mandates are crucial to the formation of any coalition.
Both Kadima and the Likud have been courting Yisrael Beteinu since the election. It is closer to the hardline Likud on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, but is more akin to the centrist Kadima on some domestic matters, such as the relationship between religion and state, and electoral reform.
Receiving the official election results Wednesday evening from the Central Elections Committee before meeting with the parties, Peres said he was certain a "blessed partnership" would be formed.
Earlier, he had said that the crucial issue facing Israel was not the identity of the country's next prime minister, but the policies of the country's next government.
The president is set to continue his meeting with party delegations on Thursday.
Under Israel law, the candidate chosen to set up a government has up to 6 weeks in which to build a coalition.
Despite the posturing of the parties, most commentators in Israel think a unity government, with Kadima and Likud as its spine and including several smaller factions, will emerge.
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