WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Zionist kingmaker Avigdor Lieberman has refused to endorse a candidate for prime minister, virtually guaranteeing the regime will be forced into a new election, the third in less than a year.
Lieberman’s comments came ahead of a midnight deadline for Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rival, Benny Gantz, to form a coalition.
A September election left both Netanyahu and Gantz short of securing a required parliamentary majority to form a cabinet, with Lieberman holding the decisive votes.
But after weeks of negotiations, Lieberman said he could not endorse either side.
"I made every effort. I turned over every stone,” he said.
Lieberman had called for a unity cabinet between Netanyahu’s Likud party and Gantz’s Blue and White. But the two could not agree on a power-sharing agreement.
Gantz had until midnight to try to seek other partners, but without Lieberman, that appears impossible.
Gantz was given the opportunity to form a cabinet last month after Netanyahu failed in the task.
Gantz has balked at ultra-Orthodox participation in a unity cabinet, saying he wanted to establish a "liberal” administration.
Netanyahu had insisted on preserving what he has described as a right-wing bloc - whose support he would need should he seek parliamentary immunity from prosecution if he is indicted.
The Zionist regime’s attorney-general is widely expected to announce within days whether he will accept police recommendations to charge Netanyahu.
Netanyahu faces no legal requirement to leave cabinet if indicted. He could face fraud and breach of trust charges in all three probes, and bribery charges in one.