President Reuven Rivlin has given Benjamin Netanyahu the task of forming Israel's next government. This was after attempts by Netanyahu and Blue & White chairman Benny Gantz to form a national unity government have not made any progress.
When asking Netanyahu to try and put together a coalition, Rivlin said, "After consulting with representatives of the different factions, I am announcing that Prime Minister Netanyahu will receive the mandate to form a government. Summing up my consultations, it became clear that there are not 61 votes, which is sufficient to form a government - neither MK Netanyahu nor MK Benny Gantz. The aim of the law is to bring about the formation of a government as quickly as possible and according to this, the decision on who to choose depends on the question of who has the best chance."
He added, "It is important to say that due to the results of the elections and the fact that nobody has won 61 recommendations, just asking one of the candidates to form a government is not a sufficient solution.
Rivlin explained that he had suggested to Gantz and Netanyahu a legal change to the position of deputy prime minister giving the office "full authority," if the prime minister cannot carry out his duties.
He said, "As long as the prime minister is unavailable, his role will be preserved and he will return to it when he is able to. That was my proposal and that is what I suggest."
Meanwhile Gantz has said that the national unity talks had failed because the formation of a right wing bloc meant that there could be no negotiations.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 25, 2019
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