The former Israeli prime minister has made a proposal to the Israeli war minister Benny Gantz in line with his latest efforts to disrupt the Lapid-Bennett new coalition.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to oust war minister Benny Gantz for a three-year term as part of his latest efforts to prevent defeat.
Israeli Channel 12 reported that Benjamin Netanyahu had offered to step down and that Benny Gantz would be the prime minister for three years as head of the Blue and White Coalition. According to the plan, Netanyahu will be the rotating prime minister during these three years.
Zionist TV Channel 12 reported that the offer was made to Benny Gantz through several channels and Netanyahu’s close associates.
The report states that Gantz aides have completely rejected Netanyahu’s offer.
The Likud party led by Netanyahu and the Blue and White party led by Benny Gantz reached an agreement to form a coalition in April 2020 after three consecutive elections.
But Netanyahu’s cabinet was dissolved just six months after it was formed due to his disagreement with Gantz over approving the 2020 budget, and new elections were held in March 2021.
Many experts at the time believed that Netanyahu had engineered the situation to prevent the handover of the prime minister to Gantz.
Likud member David Beaton on Friday criticized Netanyahu for disrupting the party’s coalition cabinet with the Blue and White Party.
“Looking back, it is clear that Netanyahu made a mistake by not implementing the rotating prime minister’s agreement with Gantz,” he said. “Given what has happened now, that decision was wrong.”
People close to Netanyahu told Channel 13 that Netanyahu had realized that his 12-year term as prime minister would end on Sunday and that he was determined to fight the “government of change” in other ways.
Naftali Bennett, the leader of the right-wing Yamina party, and Yair Lapid, the leader of the center-right Yeshuaid party, announced a few weeks ago that they had agreed to form a coalition to end Netanyahu’s presidency.
However, a vote on the new cabinet may take place next Sunday. Therefore, Lapid and Bennett must by then, protect this shaky and fragile coalition against the latest attempts by Netanyahu to overthrow it.
