TEL AVIV, Israel _ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on his political rivals to put aside their objections to him and form an emergency government to deal with the coronavirus crisis.
Netanyahu made his appeal on Thursday, shortly after announcing more schools would close to try to contain infections. So far, 109 Israelis have tested positive for the virus and none have died. But with tens of thousands of people in quarantine and no certainty over how long the outbreak will last, the government sees a significant drop in economic growth this year.
In elections this month _ Israel's third in the past year _ neither Netanyahu nor challenger Benny Gantz, head of the Blue and White bloc, won enough parliamentary seats to easily form a government and break the political gridlock. On Sunday, President Reuven Rivlin is set to begin consultations with political parties to decide who gets the mandate to form the next administration.
Netanyahu and Gantz failed to form a unity government after the elections held six months ago, partly because Blue and White refused to sit in a government led by someone under indictment. The prime minister's corruption trial will begin next week. There's been no indication that Gantz is prepared to change his mind.
A series of caretaker governments have presided over Israel for more than a year, and have been unable to deal with pressing problems like the country's budget deficit.
The scale of the current crisis means a fully functioning government is needed, according to Mitchell Barak, a pollster and former Netanyahu aide. "Who cares when his trial starts?" Barak said. "We have bigger fish to fry."
