Benjamin Netanyahu’s rival Benny Gantz gets first shot at power in Israel

Israel’s President will give opposition leader Benny Gantz the first chance to form a government in a blow to Benjamin Netanyahu.

Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz in Tel Aviv. Picture: AP

Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin will give opposition leader Benny Gantz the first chance to form a government in a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking to hold on to the country’s top office while facing charges of corruption.

Mr Rivlin met throughout Sunday with all of the representatives from all of the parties in the Knesset, before announcing that he would officially offer Mr Gantz the mandate on Monday.

He then met Mr Gantz and Mr Netanyahu to urge them to form a unity government, or a coalition including parties from both sides of the political spectrum. Mr Rivlin views the common political front as essential medicine to combat the threat of the corona­virus in Israel.

Mr Gantz has up to six weeks to try to cobble together a governing coalition after receiving the most support from the members of ­Israel’s 120-seat parliament.

The decision follows three inconclusive elections in the space of a year. The stalemate has prevented the Knesset from passing a budget that would fund the government’s operations.

“The biggest issue is there’s no real budget, they can’t do anything without that,” said Mitchell Barak, a political analyst and director at Keevoon Global Research.

“They need a government and not to go to fourth elections.”

In the latest election on March 2, Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party won the most seats — 36 to 33 of Mr Gantz’s Blue and White party.

Yet Mr Gantz ended up marshaling support from a broad array of MPs — united only in ending Mr Netanyahu’s time in power. The coalition includes the unlikely coupling of the Joint Arab List, with 15 seats, and the hawkish right-wing Yisrael Beitenu party headed by Avigdor Lieberman.

In all, Mr Gantz received support from 61 MPs to form a government, to Mr Netanyahu’s 58.

Although the President’s invitation to form a government offers Mr Gantz a shot at navigating a path to the prime minister’s office, it isn’t clear he will have the support from other parties to do so.

Several members of his own party and Mr Lieberman have said they oppose joining a government that includes or requires the support of the Joint List. Among the parties in the Joint List is the Balad party, which opposes the idea of Israel as solely a Jewish state.

Mr Lieberman and some of the members of Blue and White see such a stance as a threat to Israel’s existence and vow not to sit with the Arab parties as a result.

Israel’s Arab parties have never joined a government, and have only once provided backing from the outside in the 1990s.

Blue and White’s Moshe Yaalon told Mr Rivlin that the party would consider all options to form a government.

“Netanyahu, let’s not manipulate the public,” Mr Gantz said. “I will continue to support every ­appropriate governmental measure, leaving political considerations aside. When you get serious, we can talk.”

Blue and White and Likud ­issued a joint statement after Mr Gantz and Mr Netanyahu met with Mr Rivlin, saying their negotiating teams agreed to meet soon.

Mr Netanyahu’s fight for his political life comes as the country is trying to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus that threatens swaths of Israel’s economy. The government has banned gatherings of more than 10 people, anyone returning from abroad must quarantine for two weeks and it will collect digital location data of people infected with COVID-19 to help stop the spread.

The emergency moves also have offered Mr Netanyahu a reprieve from his trial. He faces bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges connected to allegations that he gave official favours to media moguls and businessmen in exchange for gifts and positive press coverage.

He denies wrongdoing.

On Sunday, Justice Minister Amir Ohana, a Likud member, placed the courts under a state of emergency. That move prompted the delay of Mr Netanyahu’s trial — which was set to begin on Tuesday — until May. Mr Gantz has accused Mr Netanyahu of using the coronavirus for political gain.

While Mr Gantz may not be able to cobble together a governing coalition that would topple Mr Netanyahu from power, Blue and White is aiming for a short-term consolation prize. It hopes to replace Knesset Speaker, Likud MP Yuli Edelstein, with one of its own in a bid to gain more power within the body. Such leverage might include drafting legislation that would bar a MP under indictment from forming a government.

Mr Edelstein said he wouldn’t allow a vote to replace him, setting up a potential legal challenge.

The Wall Street Journal