Benjamin Netanyahu Abandons Bid To Form Government Amid Israel's Political Deadlock

After nearly a month of fraught negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has abandoned his attempt to form a new government. On Monday the longtime leader, who heads the conservative Likud party, acknowledged his failure to cobble a coalition together from last month's muddled election results and returned the mandate to President Reuven Rivlin.

Netanyahu had been given 28 days to secure the 61 seats necessary to achieve a functioning majority by building support from other, smaller parties in the 120-member Knesset. After the most recent election — the country's...