Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival Benny Gantz
Jerusalem … News Time
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival Benny Gantz have announced they have made significant strides in negotiations to form an emergency national government. The two leaders’ parties, the Likud Party and the Blue and White, said in a joint statement issued on Sunday. The two have discussed overnight to form a national emergency government to tackle the Corona virus crisis and tackle the additional challenges facing the state of Israel. There has been significant progress in this meeting. According to the statement, there was another meeting between the two leaders today. The agreement was to be finalized for the formation of the government.
Both political rivals are now forced to form a national coalition government following the spread of the Coronavirus in Israel. Because in any of the three parliamentary elections held in Israel over the past year, no party has failed to win the simple majority needed to form a government. In the March 2 elections, none of the 120-member Israeli parliament, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party Likud and Benny Gantz, could gain a clear majority. Now none of them can form a government without coalition with the smaller parties.
Blue and White coalition nominee Mr Gantz was elected Speaker of the Parliament last Thursday. The Israeli president invited Gantz to form a new government after the March 2 election, but there is no guarantee that he will succeed. Because the anti-Netanyahu bloc does not have any coordination and its political gain can reach the Israeli prime minister. Netanyahu has a slight edge over anti-political forces, and that is why he ousted Liquid Party Speaker Yuli Edelstein last week and replaced Benny Gantz. Speakers are selected. But the Blue and White coalition, led by him, has also collapsed, and the two parties involved, Telem and Yash Atid, say good-bye to him. They accuse Benny Gantz of surrendering without competing with Netanyahu.
Both Gantz and Netanyahu have supported the formation of a national coalition government in the past to cope with the Corona virus outbreak. It is clear that the deadly virus has infected more than 3800 people in Israel so far, and 12 people have died. Benny Gantz wrote on Facebook on Friday that my nation needs the National Alliance government to deal with the virus outbreak at this time. I will not be the person who refuses to step down. So far, the proposed national unity government has not yet been revealed. During the past week, Netanyahu has proposed the Ministry of Justice for 18 months. He says he should first become prime minister of the country for 18 months and then Benny Gantz will be prime minister for the same period.
It should be noted that Netanyahu has been the Prime Minister of Israel since 2009. He was charged in January with charges of bribery, fraud and damaging the public’s trust. But the trial against the Coronavirus has not started yet in the country. Netanyahu has denied the allegations against him.
