Blue And White Vows Unity Coalition Without Netanyahu – TheNigerialawyer

*Gantz: We will not surrender to any dictate

The leaders of Blue and White rejected Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s calls on Thursday to form a government led by him that
would also include all his satellite parties on the Right.

Netanyahu signed an agreement with three right-wing and
religious parties to negotiate a coalition deal as one bloc, but
then called on Blue and White to begin immediate negotiations
without preconditions.

At a meeting of his faction in Tel Aviv, Blue and White leader
Benny Gantz said it was not serious to come to negotiations with a
political bloc.

“Blue and White is the largest party,” Gantz said. “We won 33
seats and Netanyahu did not succeed in winning the 61 seats for his
bloc that he sought. I will build a broad and liberal government
that will deliver the will of the people. We will not surrender to
any dictate. The negotiations will be directed by me responsibly
and with good judgment.”

MK Yair Lapid asked for patience, saying that building a
government will take time and that meanwhile, there will be more
attempts at political spin that should be ignored.

“The people did not put trust in Netanyahu, so he is trying to
replace the people,” Lapid said. “The people of Likud are starting
to realize it’s the beginning of the end for [Netanyahu]. One
person is preventing the formation of a liberal unity
government.”

MK Moshe Ya’alon called upon right-wing and religious parties to
shun Netanyahu, saying “With him, it will not happen.”

“I was surprised and disappointed that at this time, Benny Gantz
still refuses to respond to my call to meet,” Netanyahu said. “The
president called for unity, and without a meeting between the two
major party leaders, it is impossible to form a unity
government.

“The State of Israel needs as broad a unity government as
possible – not another election and certainly not a government that
relies on anti-Zionist parties,” he said. “Gantz, the invitation
for us to meet still stands. It’s what the public expects from
us.”

Earlier, Netanyahu reached out to Gantz during a speech he gave
at the memorial ceremony for former Israeli president Shimon
Peres.

“A broad unity government is what is demanded now,” he said. “I
propose that we meet as soon as possible without preconditions to
cooperate in establishing a broad unity government for all those
who believe in Israel as Jewish and democratic state. There is no
reason to go to another election. I am against it.”

Netanyahu recalled the unity government between Peres and his
Likud rival Yitzhak Shamir when the election results were similarly
deadlocked and they rotated as prime minister from 1984 to
1988.

“When there was no clear outcome from the Knesset elections,
Shimon chose national unity,” Netanyahu said. “He and Yitzhak
Shamir agreed to cooperate – to navigate Israel’s path to
safety.”

President Reuven Rivlin, who will be tasked with determining
whether Gantz or Netanyahu will have the first chance to form a
coalition, spoke of the necessity of ending the deadlock between
them and warned against a third election.

“I hear, loud and clear, the voices calling for a broad and
stable national unity government and I congratulate you, Mr. Prime
Minister, on joining that call this morning,” he said. “The
responsibility for making it happens falls to you elected
officials, especially the leaders of the major parties.”

Starting Sunday, Rivlin will be hosting meetings with the heads
of the nine parties that crossed the threshold in Tuesday’s
election to see who they recommend to head the government.

“It is imperative that we convene as quickly as possible, as
soon as the final picture of the votes is clear, in order to work
towards forming a government that can serve the State of Israel and
the people of Israel again,” Rivlin said. “For my part, I will do
everything I can to prevent another general election. But the
responsibility for this, as well as the responsibility for forming
a government that serves all the citizens of Israel with the
dedication it deserves, is yours.”

During the event, he stood momentarily in between both Netanyahu
and Gantz and clasped both their hands together in a three-person
handshake, that symbolized the kind of governmental union that
could end the electoral deadlock.

“Our current situation, which has gone on for a long time, with
a transition government, grievously limits the ability of the
government to act and to serve the citizens of Israel – and our
ability to face the political, security and economic challenges we
face,” Rivlin said. “When the factions come to me next week, they
will have to explain to me and to all of us what they intend to do
to form a government for Israel as soon as possible.”

In a video statement he released, Netanyahu acknowledged that he
promised a right-wing government during the election, but said that
“unfortunately, the results of the election showed it is not
possible. The public did not decide between the two blocs.”

He called on Gantz to meet with him as soon as possible to start
the process of forming a coalition together, confirming an
exclusive report in Thursday’s Jerusalem Post. His office called
Gantz’s aides to plan a one-on-one meeting on Thursday.

Netanyahu’s statement came after his meeting with the leaders of
religious right-wing parties Yamina, Shas and United Torah Judaism.
On Wednesday, the parties agreed to negotiate as a bloc, which
amounted to 55 seats as of Thursday morning’s as-yet-incomplete
vote count.

New Right MK Naftali Bennett repeated the call, saying: “A
national unity government must be established with Netanyahu at its
head, in which everyone who believes in a Jewish and democratic
Israel is invited. We do not count out the haredim
[ultra-Orthodox], Lapid – and certainly not Netanyahu.”

Culled from Jpost.com