Netanyahu faces midnight deadline to form govt

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced a midnight deadline yesterday to form a government, a daunting task that would likely require convincing the Jewish far right to cooperate with an Islamic party.  Netanyahu was given a 28-day window to forge a majority coalition following a March 23 general election, Israel's fourth inconclusive vote in less than two years.  The prime minister's right-wing Likud party won the most seats in the vote, but he failed to secure a majority in the 120-seat parliament. A coalition will require coming to terms with his estranged former protege Naftali Bennett, leader of the hawkish Yamina party. It will also require persuading the far-right Religious Zionism alliance to tacitly cooperate with the Islamic conservative Raam party.