Netanyahu gets two-week extension to form government

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin granted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 14 days more to form a new government after the latter won a fifth term in an April 9 parliamentary election.

"Meeting with ... Netanyahu today, who explained the need for additional time to form a government, I acceded to his request and granted an additional 14 days to the time allocated," Rivlin wrote on Twitter, setting May 29 as the new deadline.

Netanyahu is negotiating terms with nearly all the right-wing, nationalist and religious parties that form his outgoing government, Reuters reported.