Zionist PM to Meet Centrist Rival in Last-Ditch Unity Cabinet Bid

Date: 29 September 2019 - 22:36

News ID: ۷۱۰۶۲

WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make a final effort this week to salvage a deal from talks to form a unity cabinet with his centrist election rival, he said on Sunday.
An inconclusive ballot on Sept. 17, the second this year, has created a political deadlock and left the Zionist regime’s longest-serving prime minister weakened.
Netanyahu, facing a looming indictment on corruption allegations he denies, has failed to secure a clear election victory twice in six months. His right-wing Likud party came second with 32 seats in the 120-member parliament, against 33 for former military chief Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party.
With neither party leader appearing able on his own to put together a coalition with a ruling majority, the Zionist president on Wednesday tasked Netanyahu with forming the next cabinet in the hope of securing a power-sharing deal between the Blue and White party and Likud.
If Netanyahu fails to clinch a deal, President Reuven Rivlin is then likely to ask Gantz to try to form a cabinet, though he, like Netanyahu, also has no clear path to power.
The parties’ negotiators met on Friday without success, with each side blaming the other for the stalemate. Likud said Netanyahu then telephoned Gantz and the two would probably meet on Wednesday after another round of talks.