Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will leave his post by May if an agreement is reached on a unity government that will prevent a third election in under a year by Wednesday's deadline, a Likud spokesman said on Friday.
Netanyahu told reporters at a briefing in Lisbon on Thursday that he would limit himself to six months in office, followed by a year and a half of Blue and White leader Benny Gantz as prime minister, and then Netanyahu would serve the remaining year and a half of the term if acquitted.
''The prime minister stands by the offer of the Likud's negotiating team to concede on him serving the first two years consecutively as is normal in a rotation," the Likud said in an official statement. "This is intended to avoid unnecessary elections and bring about a wide unity government."
A Blue and White official said in response that Netanyahu has still not made the offer publicly.
Meanwhile, the Likud is preparing for an election. The Likud central committee will convene on Sunday to cancel primaries for the Likud's Knesset slate and keep the current MKs.
Former prime minister Ariel Sharon's son Gilad Sharon wrote the 120,000 Likd members on Friday, urging them to reject the proposal and let him run for Knesset.