With deadline looming, progress reported in unity government negotiations

Gantz said to agree to go to 4th elections if High Court bars indicted Netanyahu from forming coalition; Likud said to give up its desired changes to the judge selection mechanism

By TOI

President Reuven Rivlin, center, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz shake hands at the memorial ceremony for the late president Shimon Peres at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on September 19, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Progress was reported Monday morning in the negotiations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White to form a unity government, even as a former partner urged Gantz to return to the center-left bloc opposing the premier.

With a midnight deadline for Gantz to form a government looming, both sides are close to reaching an agreement on judicial issues, which have been a sticking point, the Kan public broadcaster reported. It said Likud would give up proposed changes to the way senior judges are selected, with a clause saying instead that appointments would be carried out with the approval of both parties.

According to the report, Gantz will promise to go to fresh elections — the fourth in a row — instead of trying to form a government himself, in the event that the High Court rules that Netanyahu cannot form a new government due to the corruption indictment against him.

The report said Netanyahu was also demanding legislation that would override any such court ruling.

Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid faction and Gantz’s former running mate, wrote on Twitter that he “can’t believe that Blue and White will give Bibi an immunity law. There is no ‘override clause’ for the High Court. At least call it by its name: an immunity law for Bibi. The thing he wanted the whole while, and even the right wing didn’t give him.”

Despite the reported progress, the Netanyahu-aligned right-wing Yamina party said Netanyahu had promised Sunday that he wouldn’t hand over control of the Judicial Appointments Committee to Blue and White or make any compromise on the issue of annexing parts of the West Bank.

“We strengthen the prime minister’s hands in insisting on the red lines of the right-wing bloc with regard to sovereignty and judicial appointments,” Yamina said in a statement. “Abandoning the Judicial Appointments Committee to the left would be a disaster that would resonate for generations.”

Moshe Ya’alon holds a press conference in Tel Aviv, March 26, 2020. (Elad Gutman/Blue and White)

Meanwhile, Gantz’s former Blue and White No. 3 and head of the Telem faction, Moshe Ya’alon, urged Gantz to pull out of the negotiations after being “tricked” by Netanyahu.

“Benny, it’s clear that your naive intention to form an emergency government is being met by cynical lies by a defendant who is fleeing justice,” tweeted Ya’alon.

“If you agree to meet his demands to entrench his regime, and make him a leader who is above the law, you will be betraying the mission that united us. It isn’t too late to fix your navigation error,” he added.

Blue and White has warned Likud that unless a unity government deal is signed, it will push forward with legislation that would bar Netanyahu from serving as prime minister, Channel 12 reported Sunday.

Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi, the former Blue and White No. 4, reportedly told Likud that they would “actively and energetically” pursue the legislation, following a breakdown in talks and a decision by President Reuven Rivlin not to extend Gantz’s mandate.

Despite Gantz losing much of his leverage following the breakup of his party, he is still Knesset speaker with control over the parliamentary agenda. The threat is that should Likud call off the talks after Blue and White split, Gantz and his MKs would rejoin the anti-Netanyahu bloc in passing legislation to prevent an indicted person — namely Netanyahu — from serving as premier.

Likud meanwhile, was reportedly looking to prevent Gantz from carrying out the threat by siphoning off members of Blue and White and Labor who would consider joining Netanyahu’s bloc rather than going for a fourth successive election in which they are likely to lose their Knesset seats.

Orly Levy-Abekasis, who last month defected from the left-wing Labor-Meretz-Gesher union, on Sunday declared that she would support Netanyahu for the premiership.

However, two other potential defectors, Zvi Hauser and Yoaz Hendel, told Rivlin on Sunday that they would not support Netanyahu for prime minister unless a unity deal were signed, the Ynet news site reported.

Knesset members Yoaz Hendel (L) and Zvi Hauser (R) seen at the Knesset , ahead of the opening session of the new government, on April 29, 2019 (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

Rivlin’s refusal Sunday to grant Gantz a 14-day extension to form a government came after he spoke with Gantz and Netanyahu. The prime minister, according to a statement from the President’s Residence, said the parties were not close to signing a coalition agreement.

Rivlin said that if the two leaders do not sign an agreement by midnight on Monday, he would ask Knesset members to recommend one of their peers to receive the mandate to form a government. The first MK to receive more than 61 recommendations would then be tasked by Rivlin.

The High Court on Sunday evening threw out a petition filed earlier in the day seeking to disqualify Netanyahu from forming a government due to his corruption charges. Justice Alex Stein ruled that the petition was premature, since Rivlin had not tasked Netanyahu with doing so.

Two previous High Court petitions have been rejected in recent months on similar grounds, including after the September elections, when Netanyahu had not yet been formally indicted.

Stein said in his ruling that in the event that Rivlin tasks Netanyahu with cobbling together a coalition, the petition could be filed again and considered.

The petition, filed by 117 high-tech, business, security and education professionals, came minutes after Rivlin announced he would not extend Gantz’s mandate to form a government, and suggested he would not transfer the mandate to Netanyahu.

Israeli law requires cabinet ministers facing criminal indictment to resign from their cabinet posts, but there is no such stipulation for a prime minister.

Raoul Wootliff contributed to this report.