Israeli President accepts election results, begins coalition talks

Israeli President Isaac Herzog accepted the certified election results on Wednesday and began consultations with party representatives to form a new government. Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party nor his main rival Gadi Eisenkot's secured a parliamentary majority. The Israeli election commission found no evidence of fraud, contradicting Netanyahu's unproven claims that Arab-led parties "stole" the election with foreign assistance. Netanyahu's religious-nationalist bloc lost its majority while Arab-led parties made significant gains. Herzog will meet with all elected party representatives over two days before selecting a candidate to form a coalition. Speculation grows over a possible alliance between the rivals, and new elections could be called if no government is formed.