Israel’s Opposition Agreed on Netanyahu for Prime Minister, in a meantime Rivlin Announces Cabinet Formation.
According to The Times of Israel On Monday, April 5, Rivlin will meet with representatives of all elected parties to hear whom they recommend be given the mandate, or the opportunity, to form the next government. The same day will see the start of the evidentiary stage of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial for alleged corruption — the years-long parallel process that is seen by many as the source of the country’s political paralysis.
The following day, the new Knesset’s members will be sworn into office.
Rivlin will announce on April 7 who will be given the mandate to form the next government, based on who he assesses has the best chance of doing so.
After receiving the results, Rivlin said his main consideration in picking a candidate would be their “chance of forming a government that will win the Knesset’s endorsement” — a possible indication that he won’t necessarily pick the lawmaker with the most formal recommendations.
Rivlin said the extended political crisis harms Israel’s democracy, and called for a government that will “pass the state budget, oversee the healing of systems and citizens hurt, and rescue state bodies from the political freeze we have landed in at a time when the people needs the state bodies more than ever.”
The president said he hoped Knesset members will “hear the nation’s demand for unusual collaborations, inter-community cooperation and professional and dedicated work for the benefit of all Israeli citizens.”
Following Rivlin’s comments, several senior Likud officials suggested the president was playing politics rather than fulfilling his quasi-constitutional duty.
“The president does not determine the election results! He must not become a political player,” said Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, and Public Security Minister Amir Ohana in a rare joint statement.
“Since the establishment of the state, all the presidents of Israel have given the first opportunity to form a government to the candidate who received the most about of recommendations — and this should be the case this time as well,” the three ministers said.
Party leaders including Netanyahu, Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid and Yamina’s Naftali Bennett have been jostling for position since last week’s inconclusive election, Israel’s fourth in two years.
Before the March 23 election, Bennett ruled out sitting in a government headed by Lapid, as did Sa’ar, whose New Hope has six seats.
Lapid, whose 17-seat centrist party is the largest in the “change bloc” seeking to replace Netanyahu as premier, has met with several fellow faction leaders in recent days as part of coalition-building efforts. He has so far been endorsed by the Yisrael Beytenu (seven seats), Labor (seven) and Meretz (six) parties to form the next government — for a total of 37 backers. Five members of the six-strong Joint List may also recommend Lapid.
Gantz said Tuesday that his Blue and White party (eight seats) would “automatically” back Lapid, provided that support would lift him to a 61-strong majority in the 120-member Knesset.
Netanyahu, whose Likud won 30, can also expect the endorsement of Shas (nine), United Torah Judaism (seven), and Religious Zionism (six) — 52 seats in all.
