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Israel’s Netanyahu races to form narrow coalition government

FILE - In this Wednesday, April 22, 2015 file photo, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves the podium after speaking during a Memorial Day ceremony to commemorate the country's fallen soldiers at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem. With a little over 24 hours to go, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scrambling to get his governing coalition together. Netanyahu has had a tough time striking deals with potential partners to form a majority coalition in the 120-seat parliament. If he fails by midnight Wednesday then President Reuven Rivlin will task someone else with the job. (Ammar Awad/Pool photo via AP, File) FILE - In this Wednesday, April 22, 2015 file photo, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves the podium after speaking during a Memorial Day ceremony to commemorate the country's fallen soldiers at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem. With a little over 24 hours to go, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scrambling to get his governing coalition together. Netanyahu has had a tough time striking deals with potential partners to form a majority coalition in the 120-seat parliament. If he fails by midnight Wednesday then President Reuven Rivlin will task someone else with the job. (Ammar Awad/Pool photo via AP, File)

By Associated Press May 6, 2015 1 min read

JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is racing to put together a governing coalition with a deadline only hours away.

Netanyahu was holding furious consultations Wednesday with the hawkish Jewish Home Party in order to secure a narrow 61-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament.

If he fails by the end of the day, President Reuven Rivlin must appoint someone else the task of forming a coalition.

After Netanyahu’s Likud Party won March 17 elections with 30 seats, it seemed he would have a relatively easy time forming a coalition.

But talks stalled and were thrown into a tizzy this week when Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman unexpectedly stepped down and announced his nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party was joining the opposition.

Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett has a rocky relationship with Netanyahu.