Gantz gives up on forming government. Israel towards the third vote in a year

21 days remain for a possible outsider to find a majority of 61 seats in Parliament. Otherwise there will be new elections. Possibility of a unity government between Likud and Blue and White quashed. Netanyahu, and his trial, continue to polarize national politics.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Israel is heading towards its third parliamentary election in less than a year, after even the leader of the Blue White coalition Benny Gantz failed to find a majority in the Knesset.

Yesterday, in fact, the terms of the exploration mandate expired for the head of the centrist formation, who resigned. Previously, the same fate had happened to outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At this point the most plausible prospect remains that of the vote, the third in 2019 after the consultations in April and September. Now there are less than three weeks left for a possible to gather the support of the necessary parliamentarians and to propose a new prime minister outsider to the head of state, Reuven Rivlin. Although the odds of this happening are very low.

In April Netanyahu won the election, but failed to form a majority in the Knesset, where at least 61 seats out of a total of 120 are needed. The subsequent September 17 vote confirmed the deadlock, which effectively prevented one of the two most important sides to create a government.

Netanyahu had offered Gantz a unit executive and an alternation at the helm, taking the first two years of his term to survive on a political level and escape the trials, which could start in the coming months. The proposal was rejected by the centrist leader, in a context of deep rift around the figure of the outgoing premier who remains the main obstacle to the birth of a national unity government.

Gantz and Netanyahu, who do not have the numbers to form a government with their respective allies, failed to reach an agreement for the coalition of broad agreements. The right-wing blockade accused the centrist leader, "he insisted on defending the interests of one person" with a clear reference to the outgoing premier, who made a "dangerous move" by preventing the party with the most votes from forming a government. Now, he concludes, "21 days remain to find a democratic solution".

Netanyahu instead accuses his rival of wanting to form a government with those who "support terror" and who "receive instructions from the enemies of Israel". The reference is to the Israeli Arab parliamentarians of the United List, which the right-wing leader has accused in recent days of wanting to "destroy the country".

While waiting for the General Prosecutor's decision on a possible indictment of Netanyahu, the position of the "king-maker" of the coalition negotiations, Avigdor Lieberman, has emerged. Netanyahu's former right-hand man, now among his most bitter opponents, has ruled out support for a Gantz government that also relies on the votes of Arab parties. At the same time it keeps clear the distance with the current right of religious and ultra-orthodox government, which represents the main support base of ​​the outgoing premier.

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