Rivlin likely to give mandate to Lapid Wednesday night

By admin On May 5, 2021

President Reuven Rivlin began the process of facilitating the formation of a new government on Wednesday by meeting with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett.

Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett arrives at the President’s Residence (Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)Bennett arrived at the President’s Residence and told reporters “With God’s help, we will form a good government.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mandate to form a government ended Tuesday night without a coalition being formed.

By law, Rivlin has until Friday to present a second mandate.

But sources close to him said he wanted to proceed quickly and is likely to present the mandate by the end of the day.

The New Hope faction decided on Wednesday morning to recommend Lapid to form the government. Sa’ar said it was the right step on the path to a unity government.Rivlin’s spokesman said the president has received the positions of Yesh Atid, New Hope, Yisrael Beytenu, Meretz and Labor, all of whom recommend that Lapid be entrusted with forming a government. Bennett’s only recommendation has been his own.The Joint List decided to reverse their decision last month to not recommend any candidate, with five of their 6 MKs recommending Lapid be handed the chance to form the government this time, and Balad abstaining.Because Lapid received recommendations from 56 MKs and Bennett only 7 it was seen as all but certain that Lapid would receive the mandate, apparently later Wednesday.

The Likud and its satellite parties – Shas, United Torah Judaism and the Religious Zionist Party – sent Rivlin a letter asking him to give the mandate to the Knesset and not to Lapid or Bennett.

The Likud wrote in the letter that if the mandate would be given to the Knesset a government could be formed quickly and additional elections could be avoided.Sources in the Likud revealed that there had been contacts with Bennett about having the Likud and its satellite parties recommend him to form a government in return for a signed commitment to work for the establishment of a right wing government. “Bennett has been playing both sides and no one can believe a word that comes out of his mouth,” a source in Likud said.

Mansour Abbas’ Ra’am (United Arab List) made no recommendation to Rivlin, though it said in a statement after the decision that it would cooperate “positively” with whichever party receives the mandate.

Opposition leader and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid arrives at the President’s Residence (Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)

Likud faction chairman Miki Zohar said he still hoped a right-wing government could be formed.

“To all those exulting over us returning the mandate, we are not worried, even if the path back could be long.”

He warned Bennett, New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar and Religious Zionist Party head Bezalel Smotrich that the public would punish them for preventing Netanyahu from forming a government.

“The people of Israel will not vote again for those who hung [Netanyahu],” Zohar wrote on Twitter.Marc Israel Sellem contributed to this report.

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