Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz reconvened on Tuesday morning after reporting making significant progress toward building a national emergency government in a meeting on late Monday night. Rather than meet all night, they decided to reconvene in the morning with their negotiating teams to complete a long-awaited agreement. Sources in the Likud negotiating team told The Jerusalem Post earlier Monday evening that “the gaps between the two sides have narrowed but disputes remain.” Those disputes needed to be finalized by the two party leaders. Gantz’s mandate to form a government ended at midnight, so Netanyahu and Gantz jointly asked President Reuven Rivlin for two additional days. Rivlin approved the request and technically extended Gantz’s mandate to Wednesday night at midnight. Both Netanyahu and Gantz called for the formation of a government to fight the coronavirus earlier Monday night. Netanyahu vowed to work for such a government but hinted that it could still take time. Rivlin had warned that if no deal was reached, he would initiate a three-week period in which any MK can form a government. “Benny, I am waiting for you in the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem,” Netanyahu wrote on Twitter. “Let us meet and sign an agreement tonight on a national emergency government that will save lives and work for the citizens of Israel.” Addressing the prime minister moments earlier, Gantz encouraged him to make the concessions necessary to finalize a deal. “Netanyahu, we reached the moment of truth,” Gantz said. “The people of Israel expect us to make difficult decisions. It’s either a national emergency government or an election in the midst of a crisis. History will judge us. History will not forgive us if we run away.” He promised not to compromise on the rule of law and to stick with agreements on the issue reached last week before the Likud Party backtracked. “We will implement them,” he said. “There is no other way.” But Gantz reportedly did agree on Monday to the Likud’s demand that the Knesset would be dissolved if the Supreme Court ruled that Netanyahu cannot form a government. Gantz’s concession angered his former political allies. “I am not prepared to believe that Blue and White would give Bibi an immunity law,” Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid wrote on social media. “Even the Right would not give Bibi the personal immunity law that he wanted.” Telem leader Moshe Ya’alon told Gantz via social media that his intentions may be good, but he has been tricked by a cynical criminal trying to evade justice via legislation that would make him into a despot who is above the law. “It is not too late to regret a mistake in navigation,” Ya’alon wrote. Gantz responded to his former Blue and White colleagues, saying “no one can preach to me about politics, and no one will take me away from my deep belief that Israel must come first.” In his role as Knesset speaker, Gantz did not convene a special Knesset session that was expected to take place on Monday during Passover, as a gesture to Likud that he is serious about reaching an agreement. The Knesset will convene on Thursday to pass legislation related to the coronavirus. Next week, Yesh Atid-Telem MKs intend to submit bills that would prevent Netanyahu from forming a government. It will be Gantz’s decision whether to bring them to a vote. While Gantz faced pressure from his Left, Netanyahu was pressured from the Right. During a phone meeting with Yamina head Naftali Bennett and other Yamina MKs, the prime minister vowed that in any agreement, he would not give up control over the Judicial Selection Committee. Right-wing former Blue and White MKs Yoaz Hendel and Zvi Hauser promised Netanyahu on Monday that if he signed a unity government agreement with Gantz, they would help him on legal issues. Hendel met earlier Monday with the heads of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, who tried unsuccessfully to persuade him and Hauser to join a 61 MK, right-wing coalition without Blue and White. Jordan Valley Regional Council head David Elhayani also held a separate telephone call with Hauser this week. The application of sovereignty over West Bank settlements is in jeopardy unless Netanyahu forms a right-wing, 61-member government with Hendel and Hauser now, the settler leaders warned on Monday. “The situation is now in their hands,” Yesha director-general Yigal Dilmoni told the Post. Tovah Lazaroff and Leon Sverdlov contributed to this report
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