As midnight deadline nears, Gantz and Netanyahu to meet for coalition talks

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz were set to meet late on Monday night for last-ditch talks on forming a unity coalition, shortly before Gantz’s deadline to form a government expires at midnight.

The Blue and White leader, in a televised address to the nation early on Monday night, had implored Netanyahu to ink a coalition deal, in a plea that came after several hours of talks during the day between Netanyahu’s Likud party and Blue and White failed to yield final agreements.

Following Gantz’s speech, Netanyahu tweeted an invitation to continue talks at his residence.

“Benny, I’m waiting for you in the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem — let’s meet tonight on creating a national emergency government that will save lives and work for the citizens of Israel,” he tweeted.

Three rounds of elections since last April a year have failed to break a political deadlock that has left the country with a transitional government of limited power. Following the last vote, on March 9, President Reuven Rivlin tasked Gantz with forming a government after he received the backing of a majority of lawmakers to be nominated with the job.

He received the nomination with the backing of left-wing and Arab lawmakers, but then, late last month, proceeded to launch negotiations with Netanyahu, in a move that saw his Blue and White alliance break up. Gantz is seeking a unity government with Likud that would see him and Netanyahu rotate the premiership, with the incumbent prime minister keeping the reins for the first 18 months.

Gantz said Monday that the coronavirus outbreak and the inconclusive results of the March elections mean Netanyahu must accept a partnership. Addressing the prime minister directly, Gantz urged him to honor the terms of an agreement which he said was finalized by both sides last week.

“A fair agreement was reached a few days ago… a fair division of the burden [that] put the good of the state ahead of all of our personal interests,” he said. “My hands are clean. We reached agreements. I hope we will actualize them for the benefit of the people of Israel. There is no other way.”

“Netanyahu, we have come to the moment of truth. The people of Israel expect us to put aside our differences and work together for them,” he said.

“History will not forgive us if we don’t get this done,” Gantz warned.

Rivlin on Sunday refused to grant Gantz an additional two weeks to form a government, and also indicated he would not give Netanyahu 28 days to try since he does not have 61 MKs recommending him. Instead, Rivlin said that if the two leaders do not sign an agreement by midnight on Monday, he will ask Knesset members to recommend one of their peers to receive the mandate to form a government. The first MK to receive more than 61 recommendations would then be tasked by Rivlin. If the Knesset cannot agree on a candidate within 21 days, Israel would have to hold fourth elections.

‘We are in a war’

In his speech, Gantz argued that the Netanyahu-led caretaker government cannot deal with the challenges that the coronavirus crisis presents, and defended his conduct in abandoning his year-long vow not to partner with Netanyahu so long as the prime minister is facing criminal charges.

“The emergency situation obligated me… to give up on my declaration that I would not sit in a government with Netanyahu,” he said.

“A transitional government cannot provide the path forward for a million unemployed people. It cannot bring this country together,” Gantz declared.

If a war had broken out, forcing thousands of families to hunker down at home, he said, “nobody would ask if it was necessary to set up an emergency government.”

“We are in a war — a tough war. The death toll is rising,” Gantz said referring to fatalities from the coronavirus that on Monday passed 116.

“For three weeks, we’ve been negotiating with clean hands,” he continued, referring to his Blue and White team’s positions. “We’ve made compromises… We’ve done everything we can to serve the citizens and prevent fourth elections.”

“Netanyahu and Likud know we are fair-minded partners,” he went on. “They also know there are some issues we cannot compromise over” — and first of all “the rule of law and the protection of democracy.”

In his address, Gantz did not make any accusations against Netanyahu’s handling of the negotiations and did not mention or hint at a reported threat that Blue and White has made to Likud.

Gantz is Knesset speaker with control over the parliamentary agenda. The threat looming over the coalition negotiations is that should Likud call off the talks, Gantz and his Blue and White MKs would rejoin the anti-Netanyahu bloc in passing legislation to prevent an indicted person — namely Netanyahu — from serving as premier.

The two sides have been working toward a power-sharing arrangement in which Netanyahu would remain prime minister for the coming 18 months, then rotate the position with Gantz. They were said to be close to a deal last week but then accused each other of introducing last minute alterations that prevented an agreement.

A key issue holding up progress is that Likud is concerned the High Court of Justice may rule that Netanyahu cannot be prime minister due to the criminal charges against him, a development which could leave Gantz as prime minister for the whole term. Netanyahu is therefore reportedly trying to engineer some kind of legislative guarantee that Gantz would not take over as prime minister in the event of such a court ruling.

Early Monday, after a flurry of media reports that negotiations had faltered, the sides put out a joint statement that talks were still ongoing.

Israeli law requires cabinet ministers facing criminal indictment to resign from their cabinet posts, but there is no such stipulation for a prime minister.

Netanyahu faces seven counts of three criminal charges: fraud and breach of trust in Cases 1000 and 2000, and bribery, fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000. He denies the allegations and says he is the victim of an attempted political coup by the opposition, police and state prosecutors. His trial is scheduled to begin next month, though it remains unclear whether it will open then, due to the pandemic.