<p>Israel's legal and political dramas converge Monday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu due in court for his corruption trial and the president to launch talks to help form a government.</p>.<p>Judges have ordered Netanyahu appear at the Jerusalem District Court for the prosecution's opening arguments in the case where he is charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust -- allegations he denies.</p>.<p>While lead prosecutor Liat Ben-Ari will be laying out the criminal case against Israel's longest-serving leader, across the city President Reuven Rivlin will hold discussions that could determine Netanyahu's political fate.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/israel-president-reuven-rivlin-to-pick-leader-to-form-govt-by-april-7-968123.html" target="_blank">Israel president Reuven Rivlin to pick leader to form govt by April 7</a></strong></p>.<p>Israel's March 23 election was its fourth inconclusive vote in less than two years, prolonging the worst political crisis in the nation's history.</p>.<p>Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party finished first, winning 30 seats in the 120-member parliament, but his ability to form a stable governing coalition is precarious, a reality that has plagued him for several years.</p>.<p>Rivlin on Monday begins two days of consultations with party officials to determine who has a plausible path towards a 61-seat majority, in a parliament bitterly divided between those who back Netanyahu and those committed to ending his 12-year tenure.</p>.<p>Customarily, Rivlin gives a 28-day window to form a government to the leader with most recommendations from individual lawmakers.</p>.<p>That can be extended 14 days at the president's discretion.</p>.<p>Netanyahu is expected to get support from his 30 Likud loyalists, 16 lawmakers representing Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, and six votes from the far-right Religious Zionism alliance.</p>.<p>That makes a likely total of 52, nine short of the absolute majority needed.</p>.<p>Because the ideologically divided anti-Netanyahu camp has no agreed leader, Netanyahu may receive the most recommendations.</p>.<p>But in comments that infuriated Likud, Rivlin last week implied that he would not necessarily be guided by mathematics alone.</p>.<p>He said he would give the mandate to the lawmaker who has a chance to form a government "that will heal the divisions between us and rebuild Israeli society."</p>.<p>The president also said that "out-of-the-ordinary coalitions" may be required to break the political gridlock.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/second-edit/israelis-make-it-hard-for-netanyahu-967014.html" target="_blank">Israelis make it hard for Netanyahu</a></strong></p>.<p>Given past public acrimony between Rivlin and Netanyahu, Likud interpreted those comments as a sign that the president was tacitly aligned with the anti-Netanyahu camp.</p>.<p>Rivlin -- a Likud member when he was in parliament -- was accused by Netanyahu's party of overstepping his largely ceremonial mandate.</p>.<p>Within the anti-Netanyahu bloc, the centrist Yesh Atid party, led by former television host Yair Lapid, won the most seats with 17.</p>.<p>An anti-Netanyahu alliance would require a tightrope deal among Lapid, Likud defector Gideon Saar, Netanyahu's estranged protege Naftali Bennett -- a hardline religious nationalist -- and a group of centrist and left-wing parties.</p>.<p>In an unprecedented twist for Israeli coalition politics, it appears impossible for either camp to form a government without support from the conservative Islamic Raam Party, headed by Mansour Abbas, who controls four seats.</p>.<p>Abbas has said he is open to hearing from all sides, but the far-right Religious Zionism party has ruled out sitting in a government with Raam, complicating Netanyahu's coalition hopes.</p>.<p>It is also far from certain that the anti-Netanyahu bloc can coalesce, raising the prospect of a fifth election in less than three years.</p>.<p>Rivlin will select a leader on Wednesday charged with trying to form a government.</p>.<p>If they fail to do so, Rivlin will then move on to the next name on his list.</p>.<p>Netanyahu was formally charged last year with accepting improper gifts, and seeking to trade regulatory favours with media moguls in exchange for positive coverage.</p>.<p>Anti-Netanyahu protesters, who dub him the "Crime Minister", surrounded the court ahead of his last appearance in February, and are expected to do so again on Monday.</p>.<p>Judges have said Netanyahu can leave the courtroom after the opening arguments, when the witness testimony begins.</p>.<p>No quick resolution is expected.</p>.<p>The trial enters a more intensive, evidentiary phase on Monday but a ruling is still several months off.</p>.<p>Netanyahu would not be compelled to resign as prime minister unless he is convicted with all appeals exhausted. That could take several years.</p>
<p>Israel's legal and political dramas converge Monday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu due in court for his corruption trial and the president to launch talks to help form a government.</p>.<p>Judges have ordered Netanyahu appear at the Jerusalem District Court for the prosecution's opening arguments in the case where he is charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust -- allegations he denies.</p>.<p>While lead prosecutor Liat Ben-Ari will be laying out the criminal case against Israel's longest-serving leader, across the city President Reuven Rivlin will hold discussions that could determine Netanyahu's political fate.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/israel-president-reuven-rivlin-to-pick-leader-to-form-govt-by-april-7-968123.html" target="_blank">Israel president Reuven Rivlin to pick leader to form govt by April 7</a></strong></p>.<p>Israel's March 23 election was its fourth inconclusive vote in less than two years, prolonging the worst political crisis in the nation's history.</p>.<p>Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party finished first, winning 30 seats in the 120-member parliament, but his ability to form a stable governing coalition is precarious, a reality that has plagued him for several years.</p>.<p>Rivlin on Monday begins two days of consultations with party officials to determine who has a plausible path towards a 61-seat majority, in a parliament bitterly divided between those who back Netanyahu and those committed to ending his 12-year tenure.</p>.<p>Customarily, Rivlin gives a 28-day window to form a government to the leader with most recommendations from individual lawmakers.</p>.<p>That can be extended 14 days at the president's discretion.</p>.<p>Netanyahu is expected to get support from his 30 Likud loyalists, 16 lawmakers representing Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, and six votes from the far-right Religious Zionism alliance.</p>.<p>That makes a likely total of 52, nine short of the absolute majority needed.</p>.<p>Because the ideologically divided anti-Netanyahu camp has no agreed leader, Netanyahu may receive the most recommendations.</p>.<p>But in comments that infuriated Likud, Rivlin last week implied that he would not necessarily be guided by mathematics alone.</p>.<p>He said he would give the mandate to the lawmaker who has a chance to form a government "that will heal the divisions between us and rebuild Israeli society."</p>.<p>The president also said that "out-of-the-ordinary coalitions" may be required to break the political gridlock.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/second-edit/israelis-make-it-hard-for-netanyahu-967014.html" target="_blank">Israelis make it hard for Netanyahu</a></strong></p>.<p>Given past public acrimony between Rivlin and Netanyahu, Likud interpreted those comments as a sign that the president was tacitly aligned with the anti-Netanyahu camp.</p>.<p>Rivlin -- a Likud member when he was in parliament -- was accused by Netanyahu's party of overstepping his largely ceremonial mandate.</p>.<p>Within the anti-Netanyahu bloc, the centrist Yesh Atid party, led by former television host Yair Lapid, won the most seats with 17.</p>.<p>An anti-Netanyahu alliance would require a tightrope deal among Lapid, Likud defector Gideon Saar, Netanyahu's estranged protege Naftali Bennett -- a hardline religious nationalist -- and a group of centrist and left-wing parties.</p>.<p>In an unprecedented twist for Israeli coalition politics, it appears impossible for either camp to form a government without support from the conservative Islamic Raam Party, headed by Mansour Abbas, who controls four seats.</p>.<p>Abbas has said he is open to hearing from all sides, but the far-right Religious Zionism party has ruled out sitting in a government with Raam, complicating Netanyahu's coalition hopes.</p>.<p>It is also far from certain that the anti-Netanyahu bloc can coalesce, raising the prospect of a fifth election in less than three years.</p>.<p>Rivlin will select a leader on Wednesday charged with trying to form a government.</p>.<p>If they fail to do so, Rivlin will then move on to the next name on his list.</p>.<p>Netanyahu was formally charged last year with accepting improper gifts, and seeking to trade regulatory favours with media moguls in exchange for positive coverage.</p>.<p>Anti-Netanyahu protesters, who dub him the "Crime Minister", surrounded the court ahead of his last appearance in February, and are expected to do so again on Monday.</p>.<p>Judges have said Netanyahu can leave the courtroom after the opening arguments, when the witness testimony begins.</p>.<p>No quick resolution is expected.</p>.<p>The trial enters a more intensive, evidentiary phase on Monday but a ruling is still several months off.</p>.<p>Netanyahu would not be compelled to resign as prime minister unless he is convicted with all appeals exhausted. That could take several years.</p>