Israel’s president on Thursday asked the parliament to choose a new prime minister after PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief rival, parliament speaker Benny Gantz, missed a midnight deadline to form a unity government.
President Reuven Rivlin gave the parliament three weeks to agree upon a leader or plunge the country into an unprecedented fourth consecutive election in just over a year.
Representatives from Netanyahu's Likud party and Gantz's Blue and White gathered late Wednesday for last-ditch talks on a power-sharing deal.
The two rivals were given a 48-hour extension by Rivlin on Monday to try to complete the talks after reporting “significant progress” in their negotiations. Although the deadline passed, they put out a joint statement early Thursday saying discussions would continue later in the day.
Israel was shut down until Wednesday evening for the last day of the Passover holiday.
During three bitter campaigns over the past year, Gantz, a former military chief, vowed never to serve in a government under Netanyahu, who has been indicted on a slew of corruption charges. The long-serving Netanyahu, meanwhile, would likely be forced to step aside and allow Gantz to serve as prime minister for part of the time in a rotating power-sharing deal.
A scenario on parliament agreeing on a new leader is unlikely. So it would likely dissolve at the end of the three weeks and the country would be forced into its fourth consecutive election.
Last month’s election, just like campaigns last September and April, ended with no clear winner. But with a slight majority of lawmakers endorsing him, Gantz was given the first shot at building a coalition.
Although his backers are deeply divided, they were united in their animosity toward Netanyahu, and he began to move forward with legislation that would have disqualified the indicted Netanyahu from serving as prime minister in the future.
