Israel president to name candidate to form government in hours

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will announce later Wednesday his choice for who should try to form a new government after last week's deadlocked election, his office said.

The selection will be announced at around 8 pm (1700 GMT), after Rivlin meets together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his challenger Benny Gantz, his office said in a statement.

Rivlin's announcement comes after he received the official election results earlier Wednesday and as he encourages Gantz and Netanyahu to form a unity government.

Under the law, Rivlin has seven days after receiving the results to name someone to form a government, but has opted to move ahead without delay, according to the statement.

The person chosen will have 28 days to form a government, with a possible two-week extension.

If all attempts fail, Rivlin can then assign the task to someone else. The official final results gave Netanyahu's right-wing Likud one more seat compared to the near-complete results published last week, but the deadlock remains unchanged.

Gantz's Blue and White remains the largest party with 33 seats, ahead of Likud's 32 out of parliament's 120.

Neither has a clear path to a majority coalition.