Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday reached a historic deal with one-time rival and Israeli Knesset Speaker Benny Gantz to form a unity government, ending the country’s worst-ever political crisis.
The three-year agreement allows Netanyahu, 70, to stay in office for 18 months, during which he is to stand trial on corruption charges he has long denied.
Gantz, 60, would then take over as prime minister for the remaining 18 months as Netanyahu bows out after 12 years in office — the longest term in Israeli history.
Photo: AFP
Netanyahu, head of the right-wing Likud party, had squared off against Gantz in three inconclusive elections over the past year, but neither had secured enough support to form a viable governing coalition.
As the COVID-19 pandemic intensified following the most recent election on March 2, calls mounted for them to unite and offer the country a rare period of political calm as it battles an unprecedented health crisis.
“I promised the State of Israel a national emergency government that will act to save the lives and livelihoods of Israeli citizens,” Netanyahu said on Twitter shortly after the deal was announced.
Gantz said that the deal had prevented “a fourth election.”
Through the first six months, the government would be defined as an “emergency” body focused primarily on containing COVID-19 and mitigating the economic devastation it has caused.
Israel has more than 13,500 confirmed virus cases, including more than 170 deaths, and a nationwide lockdown has left huge numbers of people without income.
The deal evenly splits Cabinet posts between Likud and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White alliance.
Gantz, a former army chief, would officially become “prime minister-designate” when the government is sworn in, stepping down as legislative speaker. Under the deal signed by members of both men’s alliances, the speaker’s position would then be filled by a Netanyahu loyalist.
A key issue in the unity talks was implementation of US President Donald Trump’s controversial Middle East peace plan, which gives Israel the green light to annex Jewish settlements and other territory in the occupied West Bank.
Such annexations would defy international law, and the Trump deal has been rejected by Palestinians and condemned by much of the international community.
The Netanyahu-Gantz deal would allow the prime minister “to bring President Trump’s statement with regard to the realization of Israeli sovereignty (in parts of the West Bank) to government and parliament, following due process.”
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday condemned the formation of an “Israeli annexation government,” saying that it marked the end of the two-state solution.
Following last month’s election, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin mandated Gantz to form a government.
However, for a third time, he was unable to forge a coalition because of deep divisions within the anti-Netanyahu bloc.
After Gantz’s surprise election as speaker, he pledged to seek a deal with Netanyahu, saying that the pandemic and grinding political deadlock demanded tough compromises.
That decision led to high-profile defections from Blue and White. Many had speculated that Netanyahu would capitalize on Gantz’s weakened position to take Israel to a fourth election in 18 months.
However, Monday’s deal averted such a poll.
Netanyahu was in January charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, and some experts had predicted that he would seek to win a legislative majority to push through legislation protecting him from prosecution.
A major holdup in the unity talks was over the appointment of senior justice officials, notably those who would oversee Netanyahu’s trial.
Under the deal, Gantz’s bloc is to select the justice minister.
However, Netanyahu has reportedly retained veto power over nominees for attorney general and the public prosecutor, two posts crucial to the outcome of his trial, which starts on May 24.
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