JERUSALEM — Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's long-shot effort to form a majority bloc in parliament and become Israel's next prime minister appeared to be fading Thursday, despite final returns upholding her centrist party's narrow first-place finish in national elections.
After a second day of postelection lobbying, Livni had failed to win the support of any other party to thwart a rival leadership bid by conservative opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
Vote totals released by the Central Elections Committee confirmed a sharp rightward shift, giving Netanyahu and his Likud party the upper hand in competing efforts to amass a governing coalition.
Neither Livni nor Netanyahu can achieve that goal without the support of Avigdor Lieberman and the 15 votes of his ultranationalist party, Israel Is Our Home. Lieberman met Wednesday with both candidates, who each reportedly offered him a high Cabinet post.
Lieberman's party platform has some appeal for each side. Netanyahu has endorsed his proposal that Israel's Arab citizens sign a loyalty oath to the Jewish state, a position rejected by most on the political left.
But Lieberman's willingness to create two states, one Jewish and one Palestinian, is compatible with Livni's vision.
It is up to President Shimon Peres to decide who gets first shot at forming a government. The president is legally mandated to choose the candidate with the best chance of forming a bloc backed by more than 60 votes in parliament.
Peres will begin consulting with leaders of all 12 parties in the new parliament after election results are officially published Wednesday.
Lieberman first hinted that he would support Netanyahu, but then said he was keeping his options open. On Thursday, he told Israel Radio, "I know exactly whom I will recommend to the president, but I am not telling because it's too early."
Livni's options were dwindling. If she were to win Lieberman's support, parties to her left probably would refuse to join, leaving her short of a 61-seat majority. Many leaders of the once-dominant Labor Party, which won 13 seats, are already talking of staying out of any government and rebuilding their party in opposition.
Political analyst Hanan Kristal said on Israel Radio that Netanyahu looked certain to become prime minister and that the only question was how broad the backing for his government would be.
