Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a government in Israel

Acting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unable to present a coalition government until midnight local time (9:59 p.m. GMT) when his term expired after the March 23 election. maintains the political blockade of more than two years in Israel.

“Shortly before midnight, Netanyahu informed the residence of the president (Reuvén Rivlin) that he could not form a government and therefore returned the mandate to the president,” the presidential office said in a statement.

Netanyahu did not request the extra 14 days, so The Israeli president will play a key role in the next three days in giving the mandate to another candidate, such as centrist Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid party (There is a future), or in handing the task over to the Israeli Parliament (Knesset). .

Rivlin will contact the 13 parties with seats in parliament on Wednesday to discuss “continuing the process of forming a government,” according to a spokesperson for the head of state.

The current prime minister – who won the March 23 election, but without parliamentary majorities – got a mandate 28 days ago to try to create a coalition, but after almost a month, he has not made significant progress or gained the support of 61 deputies in a Parliament of 120, the minimum necessary to govern.

With his party, the Likud, his ultra-Orthodox partners -Shas and United Judaism of the Torah- and the far-right Zionist religious party, he obtained only 52 seats, insufficient, and without having been able to seduce possible partners. such as the far-right Yamina formation or the Islamist Raamn party, to join a complex coalition.

In the current situation, analysts and media point out that Rivlin could hand over the task of forming a government to the centrist Yair Lapid, of Yesh Atid (There is a Future), who was second in the election and was also the one who followed Netanyahu in recommendations for the mandate in consultations between the president and political parties in early April.

Lapid – who also does not have a clear majority – leads the “change bloc”, an amalgamation of more than seven very diverse ideological formations which go from the far right, the center and the left, but they are united in their opposition to Netanyahu.

Yet the extreme differences seem to be a difficulty in forming an opposition coalition, as this would require the support of at least one Arab party as well as one or two far-right Zionist formations.

Another possible scenario would be for Rivlin not to grant the mandate to any particular MP but to the House, allowing any Knesset member to try for a majority in 21 days.

If neither of these alternatives succeeds in pulling Israel out of the political blockade, your citizens may have to go to the polls again, for the fifth time two and a half years.

With information from AFP, AP and EFE

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