Israel: Netanyahu gets 10 days to form government
Having won the legislative elections on November 1 with his far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies, Benyamin Netanyahu (our photo) was appointed on November 13 to form a new government.
© Ariel Schalit/AP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
This Friday, December 9, Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced that he had granted Prime Minister-designate Benyamin Netanyahu an additional ten days to form his government with his allies from the far right and religious parties.
Advertising
Read more
This Thursday evening, December 8, less than three days before the December 11 deadline for forming a government, Mr. Netanyahu had asked President Herzog for a two-week extension, which the latter partly accepted.
“
I grant you a period of ten days, ie until Wednesday, December 21, to present a government
,” wrote Mr. Herzog to the Prime Minister-designate, in a letter distributed by his office.
“
We are in the middle of negotiations
”
Having won the legislative elections of November 1 with his far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies, Benyamin Netanyahu was appointed on November 13 to form a government within the following 28 days, with the possibility, however, of requesting an additional period of 14 days.
“
We are in the middle of negotiations and have made a lot of progress, but judging by the pace of things, I will need all the days of extension provided by law to form a government
,” Netanyahu wrote on Thursday. in a letter to the president.
In his response, this Friday, December 9, Isaac Herzog, who had already expressed fears about certain partners of Mr. Netanyahu's coalition, asks the latter to form a government "
for the whole of Israeli society
" and to respect the "
diversity
" of the country.
In the negotiations, Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud has already granted sensitive portfolios to controversial figures such as far-right tenor Itamar Ben Gvir, hostile to the Palestinians, and Avi Maoz, known for his anti-LGBTQ positions.
Change the law?
After signing coalition agreements with the three far-right formations - Religious Zionism, Jewish Force and Noam - Likud has yet to finalize its discussions with the ultra-Orthodox parties United Torah Judaism (UJT, Ashkenazi) and Shass ( Sephardim).
However, to end these negotiations, the Likud must in particular change a law allowing the appointment of minister, the leader of the Shass party, Arieh Dery, indicted in 2021 for tax evasion before signing a plea bargain agreement under which he had left his duties of deputy.
Re-elected in November, he can, according to the law, sit in Parliament without being able to receive a ministerial portfolio.
The Likud and its allies, which together hold the majority in parliament, could try to modify the law as early as next week to allow Mr. Dery to join the next government, according to the Israeli press.
(
With
AFP)
►
To read also:
In Israel, Benyamin Netanyahu asks for additional time for the formation of his government
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Israel
Binyamin Netanyahu