Israel’s veteran ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu secured a mandate Sunday to form a new government, paving the way for his comeback at the helm of what is expected to be the most right-wing administration in the country’s history. After a period of unprecedented political gridlock tested the electorate with five votes in less than four years, 1 November polls gave Netanyahu and his far-right allies a clear majority in the 120-seat parliament. “I have decided to assign to you, Benjamin Netanyahu, the task of forming a government,” President Isaac Herzog told him at a ceremony in Jerusalem, the ci…