JERUSALEM: Israel’s president said Sunday that he will give Benny Gantz the chance to form a government, but will first hold talks on a possible interim alliance involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Reuven Rivlin made the announcement after Gantz secured recommendations to lead a government from 61 lawmakers in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament, in the wake of a 2 March election, the third national poll in less than a year.
”Tomorrow, around midday, the president will assign the task of forming the government to head of Kachol Lavan, Benny Gantz,” Rivlin’s office said in a statement. But there is no guarantee that the disparate forces who supported Gantz on Sunday will agree terms on a stable coalition, something that proved impossible following the two inconclusive elections last year.
Rivlin has also said that the severity of the coronavirus pandemic means a government should be formed as soon as possible. He therefore summoned both Gantz and Netanyahu for an urgent conversation on Sunday evening regarding the possibility of immediately establishing a government.”