President Rivlin’s options outlined in last tense hours of political impasse

In taped remarks on Wednesday, President Reuven Rivlin outlined his options in the event of PM Binyamin Netanyahu failing to form a government by the midnight deadline: Rivlin has three days to entrust the task to another Knesset member, or announce that the task has proved impossible and there is no escape from a new election. Rivlin would then hold another round of consultations with faction leaders. If a second candidate fails to form a government, the full House may call for a 61-member majority to choose any member and award him 14 days for the task. During the day, the law for the dissolution of the Knesset was made for its final reading later Wednesday to make way for a September election, failing a breakthrough on a governing coalition in the next few hours.