Netanyahu misses deadline

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday failed to meet a midnight deadline to put together a new governing coalition, raising the possibility that his Likud party could be pushed into the opposition for the first time in 12 years. The deadline closed a four-week window granted to Netanyahu by Israel’s figurehead president. The matter now goes back to President Reuven Rivlin, who announced that he would contact the 13 parties with seats in parliament to discuss ‘‘the continuation of the process of forming a government.’’