Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival Benny Gantz missed a midnight deadline to reach a unity government deal but agreed early on Thursday to continue talks.
Even the medical and economic crises brought on by the coronavirus outbreak have so far failed to end an unprecedented political deadlock that has pushed Israel into three inconclusive elections in the last year, and perhaps now a fourth.
Gantz and Netanyahu have been negotiating a power-sharing deal that would keep the right-wing premier in office for another 18 months, Israeli media reported.
Under the arrangement, centrist former general Gantz would take over after that.
Gantz, a relative newcomer to politics, was given the first chance to put together a government after the most recent election, in March.
President Reuven Rivlin, who is overseeing the talks, said on Monday that progress justified his decision to grant Gantz a two-day extension to hash out a deal with Netanyahu.
But Gantz’s mandate expired at midnight on Wednesday after a last-minute attempt by the two leaders’ envoys to clinch a deal. That complicates plans for economic recovery once the coronavirus outbreak is brought under control, and the country’s stringent lockdown is eased.
Without a deal, it will be up to parliament to pick a candidate who would then have 14 days to form a government. Failure to do so would automatically dissolve parliament and trigger a snap election.
