‘Israeli’ Leaders Discuss Path to Possible Government

By Staff, Agencies

‘Israeli’ Yesh Atid party chief Yair Lapid held talks with Zionist war minister and Kahol Lavan leader Benny Gantz on Sunday, after ending another meeting with so-called United Arab List head Mansour Abbas.

While Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud emerged as the largest party with all the votes counted in the occupation entity’s unprecedented fourth election in two years, it still lacks an immediate majority to form a coalition. The anti-Netanyahu bloc, which Yesh Atid is a part of, is now trying to secure the majority needed to form a coalition.

A brief joint statement released after the meeting said the two discussed ways to form a new government and replace Netanyahu, adding that they were expected to resume talks in the coming days.

However, even after his meeting with Lapid, Gantz has still not said whether he intends to recommend him as prime minister. This, as well as the personal animosity between the two, allows Gantz to maneuver in the coming days between recommending the Yesh Atid leader or either Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett or former Netanyahu ally, Gideon Saar, provided the latter two agree on a joint axis within the anti-Netanyahu bloc.

Meanwhile, Naftali Bennett's right-wing Yamina still strives to form a coalition with Saar's New Hope and the rest of the Zionist parties. The two party leaders also released a shared statement on Sunday saying they spoke and coordinated their positions on Sunday evening ahead of the future talks with other party leaders.