Israel’s president tapped the Knesset’s opposition leader to attempt to form a governing coalition, a move that could end the historic prime ministership of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Yair Lapid, who heads the Yesh Atid party, met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday morning after Netanyahu failed to piece together a coalition by the end of Tuesday.
“It is clear that Knesset member Yair Lapid has a chance to form a government that will earn the confidence of the Knesset, even if the difficulties are many,” Rivlin said, according to the Associated Press.
Lapid vowed to try to end “two years of ongoing political nightmare” with a new unity government.
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“The unity government is not a compromise — it is a goal. … We need a government that will prove to us that the fact that we are different from each other is not a weakness, but a source of Israel‘s power,” Lapid said Wednesday. “I will do everything so that the unity government is established as quickly as possible and goes to work for the citizens of Israel.”
After a series of deadlocked elections, Netanyahu, a five-term incumbent, was given a mandate on April 6 by Rivlin to piece together a coalition of smaller parties to create a ruling majority. The deadline of midnight on Wednesday came and passed without Netanyahu cobbling one together, leaving the door open for political foe Lapid to bid for the prime minister position.
Prior to the announcement from Beit HaNassi, or the “President’s House,” that Lapid would be commissioned with forming a government, Benny Gantz, who serves as the alternate prime minister of Israel, released a video message calling on Naftali Bennett, a member of Israel‘s Knesset for the “New Right” party, to support an attempt to form a coalition led by Lapid.
“In a few hours, Netanyahu’s mandate will expire. Naftali, I turn to you. … You must announce today that you are joining the government of change and support the granting of the mandate to MK Yair Lapid,” Gantz said on Twitter.
Netanyahu also made an appeal to Bennett before Lapid was given a mandate, asking him to “prove” that he’s “still a right-winger.”
The prime minister said he offered a rotating prime ministership to Bennett, with the latter holding the post for the first year, but Bennett rejected that idea, according to the Associated Press.
“I never asked Netanyahu to be prime minister. I asked to form a government,” he said. “Unfortunately, he does not have that.”
Netanyahu’s prime ministership has been embroiled in scandal since he was indicted on corruption charges in January 2020. He pleaded not guilty to corruption charges that included bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in multiple cases.
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“Everyone already sees that the witch hunt against me is crumbling. Everyone understands that this is a transparent attempt to overthrow a strong prime minister from the Right,” he said of the charges.
If Lapid is unsuccessful and all other options fail, the country will face another election this fall, the fifth in just over two years.
