Netanyahu and Gantz to meet Wednesday

Coalition negotiation meeting ends without progress.

BY , GIL HOFFMAN, LAHAV HARKOV, JPOST

SEPTEMBER 29, 2019 13:56

Tension was evident between Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the opening of the Knesset’s new session on April 30. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz plan to meet on Wednesday evening in a last-ditch attempt to form a unity government.

The Likud’s spokesman announced the meeting shortly after Likud and Blue and White negotiating teams concluded a Sunday morning meeting without any progress.

Netanyahu called Gantz, who is spending the Rosh Hashanna holiday in London, to make a final effort in coalition negotiations. He said they should meet upon Gantz’s return to Israel, and even offered to go to Gantz’s home in Rosh Ha’ayin.

The party leaders decided that their negotiating teams would meet Wednesday morning and the two of them would meet that evening.

This went contrary to previous indications from Netanyahu’s camp that he would return his mandate to form a government to President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday if there was no breakthrough in negotiations.

“The Likud is very disappointed that Blue and White was unwilling to compromise,” the party said after Sunday morning’s meeting.

Blue and White blamed the lack of progress on the Likud for not giving up its demand to negotiate as a bloc of 55 MKs on the Right.

“Unfortunately, the Likud is sticking with its ‘Netanyahu comes first’ precondition,” a Blue and White spokeswoman said. “The Likud is insisting on sticking with its bloc of 55 MKs and empty slogans that will result in Netanyahu dragging Israel into an unnecessary third election. Israel deserves a broad, liberal unity government under Gantz and we will continue to work for this goal.”

The Likud complained that Blue and White did not answer the question of whether Netanyahu could start out as prime minister as part of a compromise initiated by Rivlin. Likud officials said no progress could be made because Gantz is abroad.

Rivlin’s compromise is meant to resolve the issue of Blue and White promising not to sit in a Netanyahu-led government as long as he is under a recommended indictment or under indictment. The law currently allows for a minister to take the prime minister’s place if he is incapacitated, for up to 100 days. Rivlin suggested it be amended to create an official position of deputy prime minister, add indictment to a possible reason for the deputy to take over, and to extend the replacement period to be far longer. Netanyahu nodded when Rivlin described this proposal last week.

Rivlin also suggested a “parity government,” meaning that the government portfolios would be split evenly between the right-wing bloc and Blue and White. This way, Blue and White, with 33 seats, would have equal executive power to the 55-seat Right. This is meant to resolve Blue and White’s rejection of the Likud negotiating in the name of the entire Right.

If there is no progress on Wednesday, Netanyahu may return his mandate to form a government to Rivlin, who is then expected to task Gantz with building a coalition.

After the end of the meeting between the two delegations, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman renewed his invitation to the two parties to agree on a unity government on the eve of the new Jewish year.

“There is not much ideological difference between Likud and Blue and White. Therefore, differences in opinions can easily be overcome. The Likud voters did not vote for Gafni, Deri, Litzman, or Smotrich, but for 32 MKs, and among them Netanyahu, Edelstein, Sa’ar and Arden,” Liberman wrote on Facebook, listing both the leaders of the religious parties and a some of the most prominent members of Likud, including Netanyahu’s political rival Gideon Sa’ar, as well as the prime minister himself.

“For the upcoming new year, I urge you, show responsibility, put your ego and personal interests aside, and establish a government that will begin to address the problems and challenges we face,” he concluded.