During an unusually long 30-minute interview on Israel’s channel 12, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the terms have been reached between the Likud and the Blue&White party to form a unity government.
Netanyahu said he agrees to step down as Prime Minister after a year-and-a-half (approximately September 2021), to be replaced by Benny Gantz. When asked if he thought Gantz was qualified for the position, Netanyahu only responded by saying that Gantz was the choice of those that voted for him.
In the agreement, Blue&White would initially receive the Defense and Foreign ministries, and Likud would receive the Finance ministry and keep the Knesset Speaker position. At the rotation point, those portfolios would rotate to the other party.
Two alternatives were offered regarding the Ministry of Justice. The first is having an agreed upon 3rd party being appointed Justice minister. The other was a rotation for the position shared between the Likud and Blue&White, with a minister and deputy minister, with veto power over the other.
During the interview, Netanyahu explicitly agreed to step down at the end of his rotation.
When asked why the agreement has not been reached with Gantz, he blamed Blue&White co-chairman Yair Lapid as the problem.
A poll taken last week showed that if elections were held today, the right wing (without Liberman) would receive 62 seats, so Netanyahu is currently not concerned with new elections. Yes despite that, the offer he gave to Blue&White was very generous.
Most of the interview was dedicated to the Coronavirus crisis. Netanyahu is not known to be a particularly religious person, but he peppered the half-hour discussion with a number religious phrases, in particular, “with the Help of God” and talking about relying on God to help us get through this crisis.
Netanyahu discussed the steps the government is taking and the options in front of them, and that Israel is ahead of the game, while many other countries have lost control.