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.
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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.
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