Israel: Gantz favouring unity government with Netanyahu, even at price of breaking up Blue and White

Blue and White chair Benny Gantz is “inclined to form a unity government with Benjamin Netanyahu serving as prime minister first in a rotation”, reported Haaretz, citing “political sources”, despite Gantz’s “suspicions” of the Likud leader, “and even at the price of breaking up [Blue and White]”.

Gantz’s condition is the “the enacting of a law to ensure that the rotation takes place on a set date”.

Despite Gantz’s favourable view of a broad unity government, one of Blue and White’s senior figures, former Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon, apparently “refuses to join a unity government led by Netanyahu, even if an agreement on setting up such a cabinet is reached with Likud”.

Meanwhile, Haaretz added, another senior Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) leader, former military chief Gabi Ashkenazi, has told Gantz that he would not join a minority government backed by the Joint List.

Blue and White number two Yair Lapid, for his part, “is still agonising over whether to join a government led by Netanyahu or remain in the opposition, the sources said”.

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According to reports, Gantz believes that “even if Ya’alon and Lapid refused to enter the government, some members of Ya’alon’s Telem faction and Lapid’s Yesh Atid would take part.”

While, officially, there has been no progress in negotiations between Likud and Blue and White, Haaretz noted that “unlike the disagreement the two parties had after the September election, this time both sides agree that Netanyahu would be the first to serve as prime minister”.

However, the sides “disagree on the time he would be in office”, with Netanyahu demanding two years before Gantz replaces him, while Blue and White “insists on a much shorter term”.

Shas party is reportedly seeking to secure a compromise, promising Gantz that “if the rotation isn’t implemented on the agreed date”, the party would withdraw support for Netanyahu.