Blue and White may call Knesset vote on gov’t without a coalition
The chances of Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz forming a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are slim, but Gantz is also unlikely to establish a minority government supported by the Joint List even though his bloc has not ruled it out, sources in the faction said on Sunday.
Talk of an imminent split in Blue and White is overblown, sources on all sides of the divide maintain.
Blue and White has instructed its MKs not to talk to the media, so sources who spoke to The Jerusalem Post from the three parties in the bloc – Israel Resilience, Yesh Atid and Telem – did so on condition of anonymity.
With three days left until Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s deadline to form a coalition, neither he nor Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have expressed a willingness to compromise for the sake of achieving a unity government. The unresolved issues include who would be first in a rotation for prime minister, and Netanyahu’s insistence on keeping the 55-seat right-wing bloc intact.
A minority government is one made up of parties that have fewer than 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. A new government must be authorized by the Knesset – by a majority of MKs present in the room – meaning 61 MKs are not necessary. Hence a minority government could consist of Blue and White, Labor and the Democratic Union, with the Joint List voting in favor of its formation, and Yisrael Beytenu – a longtime fierce opponent of the Joint List – abstaining.
