The prime minister has given up trying to form a governing coalition.
ADVERTISEMENTIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is giving up his effort to form a new government following an inclusive parliamentary election in September.
Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud party, said he was returning the mandate back to Israel's president, Reuven Rivlin.
Rivlin said he will now hold consultations with the various political parties to tell them he intends to task Netanyahu's centrist rival Benny Gantz, who now has the job of putting together a new government within the next 28 days.
Read more: Israel general election: Amid parliamentary deadlock, where next for the country?
Gantz's Blue and White party was the largest to emerge from the Sept. 17 ballot, though he also has no clear path to a parliamentary majority. Gantz is more than a dozen seats short of the 61-seats he would need for a majority in the 120-seat parliament.
Should he also fail to bring in enough partners it would almost certainly lead to another general election, the third since April.
Nabeela Zahir has more on the story in the player above