By: Benjamin Brown
Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin has tasked Blue and White party leader and former IDF Chief-of-Staff Benny Gantz with forming Israel’s next government.
Rivlin had previously spoken to representatives of all the parties in the Knesset to learn whether current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or challenger Benny Gantz would be more likely to be able to form a government.
With 120 seats in the Knesset, the 61 Members of Knesset (MKs) who had expressed their support for Gantz were enough to hand the center-left politician the majority.
A total of 58 MKs recommended Netanyahu for the task and one abstained.
Addressing the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), Rivlin told Gantz that he would receive 28 days to form a government, “a short amount of time, but given the circumstances of national and international crisis, even this is too long.”
Rivlin further stated that the people of Israel deserved a new government and that heading to the polls for the fourth time in a year would be an “impossible” option.
Forming a government “quickly will require interim agreements for the coming months, but I have no doubt that this is what the people expect of their leaders at this time,” the President added.
Gantz was supported by a left-wing bloc including the Arab-majority Joint List. Gantz has previously stated that he would not be forming a government with the Joint List but seems to be welcoming their help in forming a minority government.
TPS on Monday reported that Palestinian Authority (PA) head Mahmoud Abbas had heavily influenced Israel’s democratic process and pressured the Arab-majority Joint List faction in the Knesset to recommend Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to form the next government, thus ousting Netanyahu.
Aside from the left-bloc, former Minister of Defense and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beitenu party and once an ally of Netanyahu, also recommended Gantz to Rivlin.
The 23rd Knesset will open later Monday with a festive swearing ceremony that will be held within the constraints of the Ministry of Health’s directive to curb the spread of Coronavirus.
(TPS)
