Israel: Deadline for forming coalition government expires

(Patria) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces the final hours of the deadline for forming a ruling coalition.

Although the deadline expires on Wednesday at 9:00 PM, there are no indications that Netanyahu will make a breakthrough in negotiations with former Defense Minister, right-winger Avigdor Lieberman.

Namely, Prime Minister Netanyahu cannot form a majority government without Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party, which has 5 seats in the Israeli Knesset, which otherwise has 120 members.

If an agreement is not reached between the two sides, the parliament will be dissolved and new elections will be called.

We remind you that Netanyahu won a victory just a month ago in a tight race with rival Benny Gantz, leader of the opposition Blue and White party, former commander of the Israeli army.

Gantz stated on Monday that his party would vote against the proposal to dissolve parliament and hold early elections to prevent Netanyahu's Likud party from 'stealing democracy' from Israel.

If Netanyahu fails in his efforts to form a coalition government during the day, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will be forced to turn to another legislator, from Likud or the opposition, with the same request. However, such a move by the president, which would represent a political blow to Netanyahu, can be avoided by a parliamentary vote for new elections, for which Netanyahu would have to lobby for 61 votes by the end of the day.

A few days ago, protests by thousands of Tel Aviv citizens were held against the proposed introduction of criminal immunity for the prime minister.

The protests were organized by Israeli opposition parties to prevent a new law that would protect Netanyahu from prosecution on suspicion of involvement in bribery and corruption.