For the second time this year, Israel's Prime Minister has failed to form a government, and the mandate will now go to his rival to attempt it. But with the odds of success there equally uncertain, it means Mr Benjamin Netanyahu could still make a comeback.

For more than a decade, Israel's opposition has been waiting for this moment. Twenty-six days after Prime Minister Netanyahu received a mandate to form his fifth government in a row, he conceded defeat to the Director-General of the Presidency, returning his mandate over the phone on Monday night.