After a day’s delay, the Likud and Blue&White negotiation teams began their meeting on Friday. This is their second meeting since President Reuven Rivlin has handed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the mandate to create the future government two days ago.
Minister Ze’ev Elkin, who represents Likud alongside Minister Yair Levin, told Reshet Bet radio on Friday: “Third elections would be a disaster, but, ultimately, we need to have a partner.”
But Hilly Trooper of Blue&White declared on Reshet Bet: “If the Likud continues to lead a bloc of 55 [rightwing] MKs, we’re all wasting our time.”
Minister Elkin said: “The Israeli public does not want third elections, the Israeli public wants a broad unity government. We certainly see the president’s outline as the correct basis for negotiations and we thank him for it.”
President Rivlin’s outline suggests that Netanyahu would serve as prime minister for the first two years of the rotation, to be replaced by Gantz in the next two years. But during the first two years, Gantz would serve as deputy prime minister, so that when Netanyahu’s trial opens—should it open, Netanyahu would be declared unavailable to serve and Gantz would go on to serve as the prime minister for all intents and purposes.
Elkin objected to the possibility of Avigdor Liberman’s joining the government, saying: “Since Liberman’s position, at least at the moment, is that he will not sit down together with any of the rightwing parties, we don’t think there’s a reasonable chance of forming a government along that track.”
The teams will discuss the different options available in forming a unity government, with strong support from the president. The main issue remains Blue&White’s refusal to sit in a coalition headed by Netanyahu. They have no problem coalescing with anyone else from Likud. Another issue is the mode of rotation.
There are two reasons Blue&White is reluctant to move to the next phase in forming a coalition: if Netanyahu comes in with 55 seats, he shouldn’t really have to offer a rotation at the helm, seeing as Gantz only has 44 backers – which is why Blue&White insists that Netanyahu shed his rightwing bloc; also, the initial deal that formed the Blue&White party includes a rotation after two years from Gantz to Yair Lapid – so how will that be done now?
On Wednesday evening, Gantz and Netanyahu met at the entrance to presidential residence, and, according to an eyewitness who reported this to Haaretz, on their way up the stairs, Gantz put his hand on Netanyahu’s shoulder, gave him a short hug, and the rest of the way kept his hand resting in a friendly manner on the PM’s shoulder.
This physical gesture is the best illustration of the huge difference between Gantz and his three co-leaders at Blue&White, according to Haaretz, which suggests that, were it up to him, Gantz would have already been knee-deep in vigorous coalition negotiations by now.
Gantz was ready as early as Monday, after the first three-way meeting in the president’s residence, to accept the plan in principle. But Gantz’s Blue&White partners, Yair Lapid, Moshe Ya’alon and Gabi Ashkenazi, believe such a move would be suicide, considering how shrewd a warrior they face in Netanyahu.
Lapid posted a provocative tweet in the middle of the Gantz-Bibi meeting, saying: “Gantz will be prime minister and Netanyahu will be free to deal with his criminal affairs,” just to make clear who’s running the show over at Blue&White.