Yair Lapid, chairman of Yesh Atid, on Sunday called for the formation of a “unity government” of Zionists and patriots to break the ongoing political logam and prevent a fifth national election, and told President Reuven Rivlin that he expects to get the mandate to build like that. a government like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot form a coalition.
“We must form a government that will unite us. Not a right-wing government, not a left-wing government, but an Israeli unity government, ‘Lapid told a news conference in Tel Aviv.
Lapid noted that it was recommended by 45 MKs as prime minister and therefore deserves the opportunity to try to form a coalition if Netanyahu fails. ‘We have 45 recommendations; I would be very surprised if the president does not impose this [the task of forming] the next government on me, ”he said.
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Rivlin hinted that if Netanyahu could not form a coalition in the remaining 18 days, he might just ask the Knesset to find a candidate who could gain the support of a majority in the House, rather than himself. draft a second candidate.
Lapid, the de facto head of the ‘change bloc’ opposed to left-wing, centrist and right-wing parties, is against Netanyahu and said he had met with party leaders who had promised not to join the Likud leader in ” a government and is still planning meetings this week. The party later confirmed that it would meet with leaders of the joint list, Ayman Odeh and Ahmad Tibi, on Monday.
Namaf Naftali Bennett, leader of Yamina, in a clear signal to Netanyahu that the leader of the right-wing party is not in the prime minister’s pocket, Lapid said: ‘I want to echo something my friend Naftali Bennett said last week: Israel cannot afford fifth. elections. Israel needs a government. ‘
Lapid said he offered Bennett to be prime minister first in a rotation agreement between them.
Party leaders Naftali Bennett (left) and Yair Lapid during the swearing-in ceremony of the 24th Knesset in the Knesset building in Jerusalem, April 6, 2021. (Marc Israel Sellem / Pool)
‘In this Israeli unity government there will be three right-wing parties [Yamina, New Hope and Yisrael Beytenu], two centrist parties [Yesh Atid and Blue and White] and two left parties [Labor and Meretz]”The leader of Yesh Atid said on Sunday. “This is what unity looks like. When different people with different opinions decide to work together. ”
Such a government has the support of 58 members of the Knesset, not a majority in the 120-seat, but enough to surpass Netanyahu’s bloc of 52 supporters. It can also be supported from the outside by the Joint List of Ra’am.
“That is our goal. To form a government whose power will be drawn from its commitment to the welfare of the country. There will be different worldviews, but we are all Zionists. We are all Israeli patriots, “Lapid added.
Except for Yamina, whose party recommended that Bennett be instructed to form a coalition, all the other parties mentioned by Lapid recommended that he be appointed to form the next government. Overall, however, the leader of Yesh Atid received fewer recommendations than Netanyahu, who got the first chance to forge a coalition.
If Netanyahu fails on May 4 and Rivlin does not give him an extension, the latter can order a second person (for another 28-day period and a possible additional 14), or return the mandate to the Knesset. , which gives the legislature 21 days to vote on a candidate supported by 61 MKs.
If the president appoints a second person and the person does not form a coalition, the mandate automatically returns to the Knesset for a period of 21 days. During that time, any MK is eligible to form a government.
Rivlin indicated that he may not give the mandate to a second candidate if Netanyahu fails, but send it back to the Knesset immediately. He also seems unlikely to grant a postponement to Netanyahu before doing so.
President Reuven Rivlin meets with the Yesh Atid Party at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, April 5, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
At the end of the 21-day period, if 61 MKs have not agreed on a candidate, the new Knesset will automatically go out and the country will go to another election.
Lapid’s efforts to form a coalition come as Netanyahu appears to be struggling to find 61 members of the Knesset willing to form a Likud-led government.
As Netanyahu has a clear majority after the March 23 election, he has driven several – and mostly unlikely – scenarios on how he could reach the magic number of 61, including relying on the support of the Islamic Party Ra’am from outside, despite opposition from far-right legislators including Bezalel Smotrich; try to recruit “defectors” from other parties; and trying to get the New Hope party led by Gideon Sa’ar to join such a coalition.
Netanyahu is said to be trying to persuade Smotrich, who heads the Party of Religious Zionism, to accept Ra’am’s support for a one-time vote that would make the government possible.
But on Sunday, Smotrich said he preferred to support a fifth quick election or even a center-left coalition, backed by the Arab majority coalition or Ra’am parties (in which Smotrich would not run), as opposed to ‘ a right-wing government supported by Ra’am.
“The fifth election is also much better than this suicide,” he wrote in a Twitter exchange, responding to the proposal to allow the formation of a government supported by Ra’am. ‘And you know what, even a hybrid being [of center-left parties backed by Arab Israeli parties] – which I think will not arise and if it does, it will take a few months and collapse and the judge will return stronger – is better than the destruction of the right and Zionism.
Netanyahu in a video statement on Sunday night called on Yamina and New Hope to form an important parliamentary panel with his party, after reports indicated that Bennett could work with the opposition parties in the committee.
The vote on the formation of the organizing committee – which is expected to be led by Likud’s former coalition whip and Netanyahu’s main ally, Miki Zohar – would take place on Monday.
The Organizing Committee, the first Knesset committee to be formed after an election, determines which parliamentary committees will be formed and who will serve on them. Most importantly, it also controls the legislative agenda in the new parliament until a new government is formed.
By continuing with the anti-Netanyahu bloc over the composition of the panel, Yamina would try to stop the vote and thus strengthen his power.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.