Gantz rejects Netanyahu’s offer for a unity government
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Benny Gantz’s Blue and White coalition has ruled out a unity government with Benjamin Netanyahu as the latest election results show them neck-and-neck, with an estimated 33 seats in parliament to Likud’s 31.
A senior Blue and White leader, Moshe Yaalon, told reporters in Israel: “We will not enter a coalition led by Netanyahu.”
Benjamin Netanyahu has called on his main political rival, Benny Gantz, to form a unity government with him. The Israeli prime minister made the offer after a second general election failed to produce a clear winner.
Benny Gantz, former Israeli Army Chief of Staff and chairman of the Blue and White Israeli centrist political alliance attends a memorial service for late Israeli president Shimon Peres at Mount Herzl, Israel’s national cemetery, in Jerusalem, 19 September 2019. EPA-EFE/ABIR SULTAN
Netanyahu and his allies failed to garner a majority of seats in Israel’s legislature, as Israelis went to the ballot boxes for the second time in a year on Tuesday following an inconclusive election in April.
In a video message, Netanyahu conceded there was no way he would be able to form a right-wing government after a second general election this week ended in deadlock.
“During the elections, I called for the establishment of a right-wing government,” Netanyahu said. “But, unfortunately, the election results show that this is not possible.”
He said he opposed going to a third election and then urged Gantz of the centrist Blue and White party to form a “broad unity government today.”
He also called on Gantz to meet him later Thursday.
Neither party has the 61 seats in parliament in order to form a government and will either have to cobble together a majority with a disparate range of smaller parties, or join forces.
Benny Gantz’s Blue and White coalition has ruled out a unity government with Benjamin Netanyahu as the latest election results show them neck-and-neck, with an estimated 33 seats in parliament to Likud’s 31.
Avigdor Lieberman, whose Yisrael Beiteinu is expected to gain nine seats, has also endorsed a unity government and his party would likely have a role in it. But he too is reluctant to allow Netanyahu, dogged by corruption allegations which he denies, to stay on as prime minister.
The situation is further complicated by a surge in support for parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, which make up a fifth of the country’s population. The Joint List, headed by Ayman Odeh, has won up to 12 seats after Netanyahu’s rhetoric against the Arab minority in Israel led to huge turnout.
