Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has failed to meet a midnight deadline to put together a new governing coalition. The failure raises the possibility that his Likud party could be pushed into the opposition for the first time in 12 years.
The deadline closed a four-week window granted to Netanyahu by Israel's figurehead president.
The matter now bounces back to President Reuven Rivlin, who is expected in the coming days to give one of Netanyahu's opponents a chance to form an alternative coalition government.
If all efforts to form a govt fail, the country would be forced into another election, which will be the fifth in just over two years.