Israel to enter 21-day period in which any Knesset member can become Prime Minister
(Worthy News) – Negotiations following Israeli elections in September have still not produced any clear leadership.
Talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and contender Benny Gantz broke down Tuesday a day ahead of secular right-wing Yisrael Beyteynu leader Avigdor Lieberman’s announcement that he would support neither a right-wing, orthodox-supported majority government helmed by Netanyahu nor a left-wing minority government led by Gantz and upheld by Arab party support.
“There is no chance,” Lieberman, who holds kingmaker powers with the seats necessary to put either Netanyahu or Gantz over the 61-seat threshhold needed for a majority government, said, citing “anti-Zionist cooperation in the Knesset between the Arab parties and the Haredim” as the main reason for digging in his heels.
If Gantz fails to obtain enough Knesset support to form a government by midnight Wednesday, any member of Israel’s parliament will have a 21-day window to solicit the 61 seats necessary to become Prime Minister, after which, if no clear frontrunner emerges, a new election will be called.
The US appeared to make moves Monday toward supporting some form of right-wing government in Israel when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the Trump administration would no longer consider Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria illegal.