Netanyahu fails to form new Israeli government; rival Gantz poised to take up the challenge
Source: Washington Post
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave up on his month-long effort to negotiate a governing majority after September’s dead-heat national election, opening the way for his chief rival to try his hand at cobbling together a coalition to run the country.
If Israel’s president gives former army chief of staff Benny Gantz permission to proceed, he would be the first politician other than Netanyahu given the mandate to form a government in more than a decade, although his own path to power is far from certain. Israel’s complex — and gridlocked — political system all but ensures that the final outcome is not likely to be clear for weeks, and that a third election in less than a year may be required. “This is new: This broadens the political imagination to include the possibility that someone not named Netanyahu could be the prime minister of the state of Israel,” said Mordechai Kreminitzer, senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. “But I think Gantz will also find it extremely difficult to shape a coalition.”
Netanyahu’s move came after power-sharing talks broke down almost immediately between his Likud party and Gantz’s Blue and White party, the two biggest factions in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. The parties emerged from September elections with a nearly identical number of seats, and neither close to a controlling majority. The prime minister released a video announcing an end to his efforts, two days before the deadline and on his 70th birthday, decrying Gantz’s steady refusal to soften his resistance.
Gantz’s party has one more seat than Likud, but Netanyahu emerged with one more Knesset recommendation to form a government. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin awarded the prime minister the first official mandate, giving him 28 days to assemble a majority. But despite pleas from Rivlin that the two sides find a way to form a unity government, neither party showed a willingness to budge on key demands, and Netanyahu told Rivlin he was giving up with just days left on his mandate.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/netanyahu-fails-to-form-new-israeli-government-rival-gantz-poised-to-take-up-the-challenge/2019/10/21/7a4574d4-e27e-11e9-be96-6adb81821e90_story.html
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By Washington Post Staff
Oct. 21, 2019 at 1:06 p.m. EDT
After nearly a month of efforts to assemble a majority in parliament, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed President Reuven Rivlin that he had failed in his attempts to pull together a government. The president is likely to call on Benny Gantz, leader of the largest political party in parliament, to try to form the next Israeli government.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2019/10/21/netanyahu-announces-he-cant-form-a-government-opening-door-for-israeli-president-to-tap-political-rival-to-build-a-coalition/
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