President Shimon Peres begins his long-awaited consultations with the dozen factions in the 18th Knesset on Wednesday in an effort to determine whether he will task Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu or Kadima leader Tzipi Livni with forming a new government.
Delegations from Kadima and Likud will come to Beit Hanassi on Wednesday night following a visit from the head of the Central Elections Committee, former Supreme Court justice Eliezer Goldberg, who will inform Peres that the results of last Tuesday's election have been published in the official government registry.
But the real action at the president's residence is set to take place on Thursday morning, when Israel Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman will reveal to Peres his decision on whether he backs Netanyahu, Livni, or neither. Lieberman is scheduled to return from a vacation in Minsk on Wednesday night.
