From his official residence in Jerusalem, President Shimon Peres announced Monday night that he has chosen newly-elected Kadima party head and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to assemble a ruling coalition. Livni now has 42 days to cobble together a government under her leadership.
"The Foreign Minister expressed to me the full weight of the responsibility she feels in light of the position she has been assigned," President Peres said. "I hope that the task will be completed as soon as possible and that Israeli democracy will prove its resilience."
Peres met with the heads of the Knesset factions on Sunday and Monday to hear who each party recommended to head the next government. Kadima, Meretz and the Gil Pensioners party recommended Livni, while the Likud party, the National Union-National Religious Party faction and Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) called for general elections. The Haredi-religious United Torah Judaism faction, the Justice for Pensioners splinter party, and the Arab parties refrained from offering a recommendation.
Representatives from the Arab Balad and Ra'am-Ta'al factions said that they had not recommended anyone for prime minister, but they did not call for new general elections either. Instead, they spoke to President Peres about issues affecting the Arab community, they said.
A Speedy Decision
Peres issued his decision relatively quickly, following outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's formal resignation on Sunday, despite the fact that the law affords the president a full week for consultations. One reason for his speedy conclusion of the process is, apparently, the fact that Peres is scheduled to leave Tuesday for the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He is taking Olmert's place as the head of state representing Israel. 
Kadima voters essentially chose the new Prime Minister without input from the rest of Israel's citizens.
There were those in the political echelons who suggested that Peres hold off on his decision until appeals over the results of the Kadima primaries were heard by the courts. There were charges of corruption in the primaries, which gave Livni a slim victory over her rival Sha'ul Mofaz. In the interim, Mofaz announced his decision to withdraw from politics.
Ahead of the announcement by the president, a group of nationalist activists gathered outside his residence in Jerusalem to protest what they see as an undemocratic regime change. Calling for new elections, the activists argued that Kadima voters essentially chose the new Prime Minister without input from the rest of Israel's citizens.
Signs held at the protest included, "Peres is pulling another 'dirty trick'," in reference to a political maneuver from Peres's days in the Labor party in which he colluded with the Shas party to betray his coalition partners and bring down the 1990 unity government headed by the Likud. Another sign at the protest read: "The Arabs' president is appointing the Arabs' representative," referring to policies both Peres and Livni advocate that involve turning over more and more Israeli territory to the control of Arab leaders.