Netanyahu's Likud gains additional seat but Israel deadlock remains

Despite the gain, however, the country's political deadlock remains.

The final results from the 17 September vote gave the rightwing Likud 32 seats compared to Benny Gantz's centrist Blue and White's 33 in the 120-seat parliament.

The two parties are in the process of trying to negotiate a unity coalition, and President Reuven Rivlin has one week to name someone to form a government.

Likud's additional seat came at the expense of one of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, United Torah Judaism, which now has seven.

Israel's Arab parties, running together under the Joint List alliance, finished as the third-largest force in parliament with 13 seats.

The Joint List announced on Sunday that it endorsed Gantz, saying its decision was not meant as approval of the ex-military chief's policies but as a way of ousting Netanyahu.

The Balad Party - a constituent of the Joint List - later broke ranks and announced its lawmakers would not be backing Gantz.

Netanyahu has received the endorsement of 55 parliament members to be prime minister, while Gantz has received 54.

Neither has a clear path to a majority coalition.

Rivlin, who will formally receive the results later on Wednesday, has leaned heavily on Gantz and Netanyahu to work out a unity coalition between them, including in a joint meeting on Monday.

Rivlin is due to host the two for a follow-up meeting on Wednesday night.

A rotation arrangement has been floated, but the question of who would be premier first remains a major stumbling block.

The timing is especially important for Netanyahu, who is facing possible corruption charges in the weeks ahead pending a hearing set for early October.

A prime minister does not have to step down if indicted - only if convicted with all appeals exhausted - while other ministers can be forced to do so when charged.

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