Benny Gantz, who received a mandate from President Reuven Rivlin to form a coalition almost four weeks ago, asked for more time on Saturday, April 11.

Without an obvious agreement to obtain the necessary parliamentary majority among the anti-Netanyahu bloc, the former Israeli military chief had been elected speaker of parliament on March 29 after rallying, in an unexpected turnaround, to the outgoing prime minister.

Negotiations on both sides, however, failed, and the ultimatum left to Benny Gantz expires on the night of Sunday to Monday at midnight.

According to a statement by "Bleu-Blanc", his coalition created a little over a year ago with the declared objective of ousting Benjamin Netanyahu from power, Benny Gantz asked for "a two-week extension to Reuven Rivlin" in order to form a government with the Prime Minister, noting that Israel is going through "a social and health crisis" with the epidemic of new coronavirus.

"I think we are close to signing an agreement, and this additional time should allow us to finalize it," Benny Gantz wrote to Reuven Rivlin, who has not yet given his answer.

Discussions not "through the media"

Likud (right) of Benjamin Netanyahu said that the latter had invited Benny Gantz and his negotiators for discussions "tonight (Saturday evening, editor's note)", stressing the "national will and responsibility to form a unity government as soon as possible".

"Bleu-Blanc" replied that these discussions would not be "by intermediary media".

Benny Gantz had been tasked with forming a government after the March 2 election, but failed to do so due in part to the fragmented political landscape.

Benjamin Netanyahu had repeatedly called for the formation of a unity and emergency government, successively led by him and Benny Gantz. But the latter kept saying that he refused to be part of a government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, accused of corruption.

The most sustainable prime minister in the history of Israel, he claims his innocence and claims to be the victim of a "witch hunt" on the part of the services of the prosecution and the media.

With AFP

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