Rivlin's office: Set to task candidate with forming government this evening

President Reuven Rivlin's office says they are expecting that the president will on Wednesday evening task a candidate with forming the next Israeli government.

Likud leader Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White head Benny Gantz arrived Wednesday afternoon at Rivlin's office for a second three-way meeting. Anxious to avoid a third round of elections within a year, Rivlin had been pressing for the two to form a unity government.

Neither Netanyahu nor Gantz has the support of enough of the 120 Knesset members to claim a potential 61-MK government for their right-wing and center-left blocs, respectively.