Blue & White leader Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were meeting Monday night in a last-minute bid to reach an agreement on a unity government before the clock ran out on Gantz's time to form a stable coalition government.
The meeting came after Gantz and Netanyahu publicly exhorted one another to make the concessions needed to form a government.
"This is the moment of truth, Netanyahu," Gantz said in a televised statement. "Israel needs a unity government."
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Blue & White leader Benny Gantz appeals to Benjamin Netanyahu to form a unity government
The emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic left only two options, according to Gantz - joining the prime minister in handling the crisis or heading to a fourth election cycle since the early last year.
"I opted for joining the government at risk to my personal and political future," Gantz said, referring to the split in his party that saw his two main political partners split when it emerged that the Blue & White leader had been holding secret talks with Netanyahu.
The former military chief said the prime minister heads an interim government that lacks the authority to pass a budget and agree on an exit strategy for Israel from the coronavirus crisis.
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L-R: Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin and Benny Gantz meeting last month
(Photo: GPO)
"Netanyahu knows he needs me to help him deal with the crisis," Gantz said, adding that both parties had agreed they would need to make concessions but that he refused to agree to any demands that would harm the rule of law or Israeli democracy.
Shortly after Gantz' statement, Netanyahu took to Twitter to call on the Blue & White leader to go to Jerusalem to sign an agreement for an emergency government.
"Benny, I am waiting for you at the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem," Netanyahu said.
"Let's meet and sign an agreement even tonight on the establishment of an emergency unity government that will save lives and act in the interests of Israel's citizens."
The mandate to form a government given to Gantz by President Reuven Rivlin expires Monday at midnight.
Until last month, the Blue & White leader headed an alliance of three political parties, two of which broke away over negotiations to join a Netanyahu-led coalition.
"I did not want Blue& White to break apart," Gantz said Monday, "but my partners did not want to stay."
"If Israel was in the midst of a war... there would be no question about the necessity of a unity government," he said.
Gantz insisted the good of the country was more important than other considerations during the coronavirus pandemic, including his earlier commitment not to join a government led by Netanyahu after his indictment on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
"The crisis does not allow a leader to deal with ego," he said, "Israel must come first."
First published: 22:11, 04.13.20