Israel's Netanyahu, Gantz miss government deal deadline, deadlock persists

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS APRIL 15, 2020 / 5:42 PM / UPDATED 5 HOURS AGO

Israel's Netanyahu, Gantz miss government deal deadline, deadlock persists

Maayan Lubell
3 MIN READ

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - A countdown to a fourth election in Israel in more than a year of political deadlock began on Thursday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and main rival Benny Gantz missed a deadline to form a government.

Both men had pledged to join forces in a national emergency government to battle the coronavirus crisis. But they could not agree on terms for power-sharing, with Netanyahu’s corruption trial, due to open next month, looming over their talks.

Under Israeli law, centrist politician Gantz’s failure to put together an administration within the 28 days allotted to him after a March 2 election meant that the Knesset, ‮‮I‬‬srael’s parliament, will now have three weeks to agree on a candidate for the task.

If no nominee is chosen in the next 21 days or if the appointee does not form a government within two weeks of being chosen, parliament will automatically dissolve and a new election will be held.

Further complicating the political picture, Netanyahu, head of the right-wing Likud party and Gantz, leader of Blue and White party and a former armed forces chief, could continue to pursue a deal and rally a parliamentary majority to support it.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-politics/israels-netanyahu-gantz-miss-government-deal-deadline-deadlock-persists-idUSKCN21X3BS

[sabbat hunter]

1. Is Israel

REALLY headed to a FOURTH election!?

[sabbat hunter]

2. agreement finally reached

Not sure what the details are yet, but there is an agreement. How the hell Gantz trusts Bibi to keep up his end of the bargain is beyond me.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/20/world/israel-netanyahu-gantz-emergency-government-intl/index.html

[Israeli]

3. Details here

@ https://www.ynetnews.com/article/Hk2C2rsOL

The unity agreement includes a clause that states that Israel will assume sovereignty over the West Bank on July 1, a move that has drawn massive international criticism when it was announced as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for Middle East peace.

Blue & White said: "The Trump plan will be moved forward responsibly, with protection of the strategic assets of the State of Israel and of regional stability."

'Slap in the face of Israeli majority'

Joint List leader Ayman Odeh slammed the agreement, calling it a "slap in the face" for the majority of Israelis.
"Gantz and Netanyahu's government of surrender is a slap in the face of the civilian majority who goes to the polls time and time again to oust Netanyahu," said Odeh, who backed Gantz to form the government in the wake of the March 2 elections.
"Gantz was not courageous enough to triumph and chose to legitimize annexation, racism, and corruption," Odeh said.

The announcement also drew fire from Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, who has long been a backer of a unity government to end the political stalemate.

He dismissed it as "another government of [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his religious-messianic bloc."
"I welcome the establishment of the government, although it is not a unity government," Liberman said.
"This is another government of Netanyahu and the Haredi-messianic bloc with a fig leaf from two senior [IDF officers]," he said, referring to Gantz and Ashkenazi, both former army chiefs.

plus read here , not that it did any good , @

https://www.timesofisrael.com/thousands-rally-in-tel-aviv-2-meters-apart-accusing-pm-of-destroying-democracy/

and the best last from Yuval Diskin...…you do know who he is ?

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SyYgzoYOI

Yet from the moment he got his way, all this man has done is drag his feet and try to turn Blue & White into a bunch of useful idiots who will let him consolidate his power and continue his corrupt activities.
This is who the defendant is and as such his actions are hardly surprising.

But what are the leaders of Blue & White doing? We wanted to believe they had dismantled the liberal bloc to form an emergency government and prevent a fourth election round. But now they are inside the maelstrom, holding no cards and having burnt every bridge with their former political partners.

During its formation, I said I didn't believe Blue & White was a real solution, but I didn't expect it to turn into a whole new problem all of its own.

It happened the moment the party betrayed those who supported it and who fought in the midst of the coronavirus crisis to reopen the Knesset so Blue & White could effectively confront the defendant’s goal of further entrenching himself in the Prime Minister's Office.

After successfully reopenng the Knesset, less than a day passed before we learned that Blue & White leader Benny Gantz had chose to ally himself with the defendant.
If recent reports are to be believed, Blue & White is more of a problem than the defendant's corrosion of politics, morality and perhaps now the judiciary.