Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz will hold what is seen as a dramatic meeting at 10 p.m. on Tuesday night, 26 hours before Gantz’s mandate to form a government runs out. Blue and White sources confirmed that this will be the first political meeting between the two rivals since October 27, shortly after Gantz received the four-week mandate from President Reuven Rivlin. Netanyahu and Gantz did meet over security issues, but the prime minister’s military secretary was present and political issues were not discussed. The Netanyahu-Gantz meeting apparently came at the request of Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, who has been mediating between the two men in hopes of brokering a national unity government. Netanyahu met with Liberman for the second time in three days on Tuesday morning at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. “It was a good and professional meeting and the two of them will continue their efforts to form a unity government,” they said in a joint statement. KAN Radio reported Tuesday morning that in order to draw Liberman into the government without giving him what he wants on matters of religion and state, Netanyahu would offer him ministries and Knesset committees that have been controlled by United Torah Judaism and Shas. In a sign of improving ties between Netanyahu and Liberman, Yisrael Beytenu postponed the advancement of a bill that would have made it easier to split the Likud faction. Netanyahu and the Likud’s coalition negotiating team will meet with Rivlin on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m., before Netanyahu meets with Gantz. Rivlin has been pushing for a unity government and has let it be known that he opposes Gantz forming a minority government by the Wednesday 11:59 p.m. deadline. Both Likud and Blue and White confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that they were currently meeting for negotiations that had not been officially announced. Gantz and Liberman will meet at 8pm Tuesday night. Source
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