Israeli President announces official authorization for Blue and White leader Ganz to form cabinet

Israeli President authorizes Blue and White leader Ganz to form cabinet

Xinhua News Agency, Jerusalem, March 16th (Reporter Shanghao Chen Wenxian) Israeli President Rivlin announced in Jerusalem on the 16th that he officially authorized Blue and White Party leader Benny Ganz to form a new government.

During the authorization ceremony that day, Rivlin called for the end of the deadlock in the formation of a new government as soon as possible to meet the increasingly severe challenge of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. He said Israel should avoid holding a "fourth election."

After being authorized, Gantz said, "We will do our best to form a broad patriotic government within a few days."

Under Israeli law, Gantz has a 28-day cabinet term, and if that cannot be completed by then, he can apply to the president for an extension of 14 days.

Israeli public opinion generally believes that Ganz can still form a government with many uncertainties. In the current situation, Ganz is difficult to be allowed to extend the term of cabinet formation.

On the 15th, Rivlin held consultations with the eight parties entering the 23rd Israeli parliament on the formation of cabinets in Jerusalem. After consultations, Gantz was recommended by 61 lawmakers.

Israel held the 23rd parliamentary election on the 2nd. Of the 120 seats in the parliament, the right-wing party Likud, led by the current Prime Minister Netanyahu, won 36 seats. Gained 33 seats. Following it are the "Joint List" party of the Arab League of Political Parties, which has 15 seats, and the religious party, the Saudi Party, which has 9 seats. The "Israel is our home" party led by the Jewish Bible Alliance, former defense minister Avigdor Lieberman, and the left-wing party coalition Labor-Bridge Party-Meretz Group Alliance each won 7 seats, and the unified right-wing alliance won 6 . No party gets more than half of the seats needed to form a separate cabinet.

This is Israel's third general election in nearly a year. In the past year, Israel has repeatedly fallen into a cabinet deadlock, and the new government has "difficult labor." In April last year, the Likud Group won Israel's 21st parliamentary election, but Netanyahu failed to form a cabinet, and the parliament was subsequently dissolved. After the 22nd parliamentary election was held in September of that year, Rivlin authorized Netanyahu and Ganz to form a cabinet, but both failed to form a cabinet, and the parliament was dissolved again.