Rivlin meets with party leaders for consultations to form gov't

Consultations with the president are usually festive two-day events brimming with television and radio crews, photographers, print and digital media journalists and more.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
President Reuven Rivlin speaks with Blue and White MK Moshe Ya'alon about the possibility of forming an emergency unity government. (photo credit: MARK NEYMAN/GPO)
President Reuven Rivlin speaks with Blue and White MK Moshe Ya'alon about the possibility of forming an emergency unity government.
(photo credit: MARK NEYMAN/GPO)
President Reuven Rivlin's timetable was to some extent dictated by the coronavirus lock-down and the extreme limits placed on the number of people permitted to gather in any one place on Sunday when he met for consultations with representatives of the parties elected to the 23rd Knesset.
He insisted on meeting them before the swearing in ceremony on Monday.
Usually a festive two-day event brimming with television and radio crews, photographers, print and digital media journalists, the consultation period was devoid of media personnel but rather live-streamed for the sake of transparency and reduced from two days to one.
It was therefore lacking in the excitement that accompanied previous consultations between the presidents of Israel and the nation's elected representatives.
That wasn't the only change. In a schedule released by the President's office last Thursday, meetings with the four largest parties were listed as taking place on Sunday morning, with four smaller parties in the evening. But when the time came on Sunday, there was approximately a two-hour break between the conclusion of the first four meetings and the start of the second four which is expected to finish soon after sunset.
In April 2019, Rivlin met with representatives of eleven parties, because at that time while Hadash and Ta'al were united, there was not a joint list, and Ra'am Balad met separately with Rivlin in his final consultation with elected Knesset members.
At that time, Hadash Ta'al was fifth on the meeting schedule and Shas was third. Once the three Arab parties united, the Joint List moved into third place both in September and in the last elections.
Kulanu, which was elected to the 21st Knesset, shed its new identity and returned to Likud for the September elections and thus will not be represented in the 23rd Knesset. Nor will its leader, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who will leave the political arena following the formation of a new government.
Likud representatives were first to meet with Rivllin following the first and third elections, but Blue and White was first in the door following the second election.
In April last year, Labor and Meretz each met separately with Rivlin. In September the Labor-Gesher alliance met with him and the Democratic Union, which was an alliance between Meretz and the Green Movement headed by Labor defector Stav Shafir, each met separately with Rivlin.
In the September elections, the Democratic Union ceased to exist and Meretz joined forces with Labor-Gesher, even though Meretz and Gesher are at opposite ends of the political spectrum.
Prior to the meeting with Rivlin on Sunday, Gesher leader Orly Levy-Abekasis announced that she would recommend neither Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu nor Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to be given the mandate to form a government.