Blue and White, Likud to hold decisive coalition talks Sunday

Blue and White officials expressed rare optimism ahead of the meeting that it could be a turning point.

By GIL HOFFMAN
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet to discuss possible political frameworks, October 27 2019 (photo credit: ELAD MALKA)
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet to discuss possible political frameworks, October 27 2019
(photo credit: ELAD MALKA)
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein will host what is expected to a fateful meeting on Sunday afternoon between the negotiating teams of Likud and Blue and White, which may decide whether a national unity government will be formed by the December 11 deadline or whether Israel will be going to its third election in under a year.
Blue and White Party officials expressed rare optimism ahead of the meeting that it could be a turning point.
“We are going to come open-minded and hoping to make progress,” a source close to Blue and White leader Benny Gantz said.
In an effort to ensure the meeting’s success, Blue and White decided not to join demonstrations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Thousands demonstrated at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square, demanding Netanyahu’s immediate resignation and holding signs calling him a criminal.
Former Likud minister Michael Eitan attended the rally. The Labor Party led another demonstration outside Justice Minister Amir Ohana’s Tel Aviv home on Friday, and there were also demonstrations for and against Netanyahu outside his Jerusalem residence on Saturday night.
“You cannot demonstrate against the prime minister when we are in coalition negotiations with him that we want to succeed, because we do not want another election,” a source close to Gantz said.
The two sides are expected to discuss a proposal for Netanyahu to remain prime minister for a few months, followed by Gantz for two years and then whoever will be Likud’s leader finishing up the term.
Gantz wrote on his Facebook page on Friday that Israel needs a prime minister who will focus on helping people instead of helping himself, will be a unifying figure, and will respect the rule of law.
“Netanyahu refuses to recognize the results of the election and his legal situation,” Gantz wrote. “Netanyahu has become a burden on the members of Likud who, based on my conversations with them, understand that the right thing to do is to allow a government to be formed without him. If he will be exonerated, he can come back and serve as prime minister for two years.”
New Right co-chair Ayelet Shaked expressed confidence on Friday that a unity government can still be formed by the December 11 deadline. Writing on her Facebook page, she said the proposal to have Netanyahu serve for a few months followed by Gantz was fair.
Shaked said there could also still be a right-wing government in which Yisrael Beytenu, United Torah Judaism and Shas coexist.
“I hope that either Blue and White or Yisrael Beytenu display responsibility and enable the formation of a government,” Shaked wrote.
Ahead of Edelstein’s meeting with Likud and Blue and White, he will meet with Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman.
“I hope there will still be a miracle at the last moment,” Liberman told supporters over the weekend.
Liberman revealed a new list of demands regarding religion and state on Friday, including drafting yeshiva students; allowing civil marriage; and opening supermarkets and having public transit on Shabbat. He also said he would insist on the haredim (ultra-Orthodox) learning the Education Ministry’s core curriculum, which includes math and English.
“We want a normal country in which citizens live according to the principle of ‘live and let live,’” Liberman said. “I do not ask to open stores on Shabbat in Bnei Brak, and I am not ready for stores to be closed in Ashdod.”