President Reuven Rivlin formally gave Netanyahu four weeks to form the government after a meeting at the President’s Residence.
President Reuven Rivlin formally gave Netanyahu four weeks to form the government, after a meeting at the President’s Residence with Blue and White leader Benny Gantz failed to bring about a breakthrough. The deadline will be October 24.
“Netanyahu had the best chance to form a government,” Rivlin said in a speech alongside the prime minister.
A Channel 12 poll broadcast Wednesday night found that the public prefers Netanyahu go first in a rotation with Gantz. But to avoid another election, a majority of respondents would like to see Likud replace Netanyahu with another candidate.
The survey of 700 respondents representing a statistical sample of the population was taken by pollster Camil Fuchs. The margin of error was 4%.
Rivlin said he gave the mandate to Netanyahu because he received 55 recommendations from MKs, compared with Gantz’s 54. He called upon parties to stop disqualifying each other and lamented that a unity government was not formed.
In his speech, Rivlin revealed that he had offered the possibility of passing a law enabling a prime minister to suspend himself while under indictment and have a vice prime minister take over until the prime minister is cleared. Such a bill could have enabled Gantz to run the country following a potential Netanyahu indictment. But Gantz rejected the idea.
Netanyahu already has a bloc of 55 MKs from his Likud Party and his allies in Yamina, Shas and United Torah Judaism. He would need Yisrael Beytenu, Labor-Gesher or Blue and White to join in order to form a government. All have repeatedly refused to do so.
“My inability to form a government is slightly less than that of Gantz,” Netanyahu said in accepting the mandate.
Netanyahu called on Gantz to form a government led by him, citing security, diplomatic and economic reasons and raising the prospects of both war with Iran and a peace process with the Palestinians led by US President Donald Trump.
If Netanyahu fails, Rivlin could give the mandate to Gantz or to another candidate in Likud. He could also tell Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein that there is no candidate. If that were to happen, there would be 21 days in which any candidate could try to get 61 MKs together and form a government.
In his address, Rivlin noted that by law, after the candidate with a mandate fails to form a government, instead of giving the mandate to another candidate, the Knesset can choose a candidate with the support of 61 MKs.
“The people do not want additional elections,” Rivlin said.
Gantz reiterated after Netanyahu was given the mandate that his party would not enter a government led by the premier while possible indictments are waiting in the wings. He blamed Likud for the failure to form a unity government, because Netanyahu’s party refused to give up the other parties in its political bloc.
“Blue and White is committed to the idea of unity, but this requires negotiations among the two largest parties alone in order to reach agreement on the content and essence of the next government,” Gantz said.
Sources close to Rivlin had said on Tuesday that he would likely only appoint a candidate to form a government next Wednesday after the Rosh Hashanah holiday. But after no progress was made in initial talks between Likud and Blue and White, Rivlin changed his mind.
Just in case there would be a breakthrough that would lead to coalition talks, Likud’s coalition negotiating team came to the President’s Residence. The Blue and White team did not come. They said that they were prepared to come quickly if there was a breakthrough, but that they had low expectations from Netanyahu.
Rivlin left Netanyahu and Gantz to talk alone for half an hour, but their talks did not succeed.
A little more light in direction of a unity government.
So Gantz will NOT be breaking his promise to sit under or with an indicted Prime Minster
Rivlin had proposal to change the law on recusal of the Prime Minister. So there is starting to be a little crack of light in deadlocked political situation and unity government negotiations.
This will NOT unfold quickly or easily. It will take probably at least two months or so. In the end there will likely be a unity government that will NOT include either the Arab Joint List or Haredim (UTJ/Shas) in it.
The UTJ/Shas are a possibility if they show great flexibility in their negotiating stance and are ready to except a new social contract with the rest of Israel’s Jews were they will participate in societies responsibilities and get away from coercive religion. Unlikely but not impossible. Shas is more likely to bend than the UTJ.
From today’s Arutz Sheva. A very informative, revealing article. it reveals just how close Blue and White is to the Joint List–even to the point of their jointly strategizing how to defeat Bibi and put Gantz in Office without Likud. They are so close that Blue and White could ask Balad to withdraw its previous recommendation of Gantz as a means of forcing Bibi to “go first,” and Balad complied. It also shows that there is no real distinction or separation between Odeh and Balad.
Those of us who are fantasizing about a joint Blue/Whire-Likud government–(including Rivlin and Bibi in this very large group)–need to grasp that Gantz’s strategy is to cut Likud out with the help of the pro-PLO, pro-Hamas Joint List.
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