An agreement that could end the worst political crisis in the history of Israel. Benny Gantz was elected president of the Israeli parliament on Thursday as part of a potential power-sharing agreement with rival Benjamin Netanyahu.
Thursday afternoon in Jerusalem, the small political world awaited the election of a new president of the Parliament, the day after the resignation of Yuli Edelstein, a close friend of the outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud party.
A dramatic twist
Benny Gantz, number one of the centrist “Bleu-Blanc” party, which was designated on March 16 to form the new government after the last elections of March 2, was to present the candidacy of one of its deputies for this post. But in a dramatic move, he presented his own candidacy, the only one besides for this post. He was immediately elected by 74 votes to 18, notably obtaining the votes of the deputies of Likoud, but losing support in his own camp, members of "Bleu-Blanc" having refused to endorse this rapprochement with the party of Benjamin Netanyahu.
And just after his election, Benny Gantz called for a "unity and emergency government" to manage the coronavirus crisis. For more than a year, Benny Gantz, ex-head of the army, had not been eyeing the post of President of Parliament but that of Prime Minister. He was thus instructed by President Reuven Rivlin to form the government in the wake of the third legislative elections in less than a year against Benjamin Netanyahu. The latter had obtained his best score at the head of Likud - 36 seats out of 120 in the Knesset -, but without managing to rally a majority.
A government of unity but also "emergency"
Benny Gantz had been chosen because he had won the support of more deputies than his rival in an attempt to form a government, while the country has been led by transitional cabinets for more than 15 months. The aim of the maneuver is "to form a government with Netanyahu," said a member of the "Blue-White" coalition, who was also on Thursday on the verge of implosion. Shortly after Benny Gantz's announcement, party leaders Yaïr Lapid and Moshe Yaalon said they were leaving the ship.
Meanwhile, the teams of Benny Gantz and Benjamin Netanyahu are holding talks in the hope of giving birth to a government of unity and also "emergency", the Hebrew State facing the pandemic of the coronavirus. But already allies of Benjamin Netanyahu have welcomed the decision of the former army chief who seemed to have given up. "I congratulate Benny Gantz on his courageous decision to join a unity government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. It is the right decision for Israel to make during this health emergency, "said Defense Minister Naftali Bennett.
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