In the wake of the announcement of President Rivlin, the current Prime Minister has offered his rival Benny Gantz to join his majority, which the centrist has excluded.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday (September 25th) urged outgoing Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to try to form the next government. Immediately, the latter asked his rival Benny Gantz to join him in a "Enlarged national unity cabinet", evoking a "Common and equal leadership".
But Benny Gantz has somewhat closed the door to this hypothesis. " The Blue White party that I run will not accept to sit in a government in which its leader is under a serious indictment. ", he wrote on his Facebook page, in reference to Benyamin Netanyahu, who must be auditioned for "Frauds" and "Embezzlement".
This decision by Mr. Rivlin follows the failure of the talks between "Bibi" and his rival to form a "Union government" as initially desired by the President. The parliamentary elections of September 17 did not allow to separate the two men, who arrived almost equal in number of seats.
"The one with the most chances"
"The one who is most likely is Netanyahu"said Rivlin at a press conference alongside the current prime minister and Likud leader. With its right-wing allies and religious parties, it currently has 55 supporters of the 61 needed, the threshold of the absolute majority in the Israeli Parliament. The centrist Benny Gantz brings together him 54 deputies.
The leader of the new party Blue-White has made alliance with the left and ten deputies of the United Arab list, became the third political force in Israel after the parliamentary elections of September 17. They had supported his candidacy without committing to participate in the next government – a point that did not receive the favor of President Rivlin in his choice of the next Prime Minister.
Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government after April's parliamentary elections, precipitating Israel's return to the polls on 17 September.
