Livni invited to form government

Ms Livni will have 42 days to try to form a coalition government

Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has accepted an invitation from the president to form a new government.

The request followed the resignation on Sunday of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who faces several corruption inquiries.

Ms Livni quickly urged Likud party leader Binyamin Netanyahu to join a national unity cabinet - a call the Likud leader has rejected before.

Ms Livni last week replaced Mr Olmert as leader of Kadima, the largest party in the Israeli Knesset.

She now has 42 days to form a coalition.

President Shimon Peres had been holding consultations with a number of parties on Monday.

He had been inviting opinions on who the leaders wanted to see as prime minister or whether they were seeking early elections.

Coalition deadline

If Ms Livni, a former Mossad spy, is successful in building an administration, she should be able to govern until elections in 2010.

ISRAELI KNESSET SEATS Current coalition (67 seats): Kadima: 29 Labour: 19 Shas: 12 Pensioners party: 7 Other parties: Likud: 12 Yisrael Beitenu: 11 National Union-National Religious Party: 9 United Torah Judaism: 6 Meretz: 5 Arab parties: 10 Coalition needs 61 for majority Tzipi Livni: Israel's 'Ms Clean' Q&A: Israeli leadership change

But she said that if she failed to do so, she would call an early election.

Mr Olmert is likely to remain as caretaker prime minister while Ms Livni, 50, tries to form the new government.

He denies any wrongdoing, but police have recommended he be indicted over two of the inquiries - allegations that he misused cash payments from a US businessman, and accusations that he double-billed government agencies for trips abroad.

Ms Livni needs to build a coalition representing 61 seats in the 120-seat parliament.

Ms Livni met Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who is head of Labour Party, the second largest parliamentary bloc, to negotiate a possible partnership.

Several right-of-centre parties have called for early elections, arguing that any coalition formed by Ms Livni would not offer stable government.

Opinion polls suggest that Likud would benefit from an early poll.