UPDATED 7:28 AM EST, January 31, 2013
The Likud-Beiteinu party and the new Yesh Atid party have both formally asked Israeli President Shimon Peres to select incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next Israeli coalition, all but ensuring that he will be Israel's next Prime Minister. The Washington Post has details. Western analysts and reporters are expected to announce shortly whether they believe Netanyahu will be crippled by a hard-line Israeli right, per pre-election pronouncements, by a resurgent Israeli center, per post-election discoveries, or by an as-yet undiscovered Israeli political dynamic. Meanwhile objective coalition math suggests that Netanyahu will be able to form a coalition with parties to his Likud-Beiteinu slate's left and right.
