Yashar! party leader Gadi Eisenkot does not intend to swear in a new government, even if he succeeds in assembling a coalition, until the Knesset replaces its current speaker, Amir Ohana of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.
Eisenkot, who received the presidential mandate to form a government Sunday, plans to delay its inauguration until after a vote to replace Ohana.
Yashar! party leader Gadi Eisenkot and President Isaac Herzog
(Photo: Arnon Bossani)
Under Israeli law, once a candidate tasked with forming a government informs the president that a coalition has been assembled, the Knesset speaker has seven days to schedule a parliamentary session for the government's swearing-in and confidence vote.
The speaker may convene the session as early as the following day but can also wait until the final day of that period.
Eisenkot's allies fear that if Ohana remains in office, he could use that discretion to delay the vote, giving Likud additional time to pressure lawmakers whom the party believes could be persuaded to block the formation of a new government.
The Eisenkot-led bloc has already submitted a request to Ohana to hold a vote on his replacement this Tuesday, when the newly elected Knesset is scheduled to be sworn in.
Ohana responded that if he receives the signatures of at least 61 lawmakers, a majority of the 120-member parliament, he will hold the vote within a week, placing it sometime next week.