JERUSALEM, Nov 21 (NNN-XINHUA) – Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s challenger, Benny Gantz, announced that he failed to form a government by the midnight deadline, increasing prospects for the third elections in Israel, in less than a year.
Gantz informed President Reuven Rivlin of his decision and returned the mandate to form a government, that the president had given him, last month.
In public remarks, Gantz, leader of the centrist party of Blue and White and Israel’s former military chief, accused Netanyahu of refusing a unity government.
He said, Netanyahu refused to drop the demand for parliamentary immunity, from a series of corruption investigations, in which he is a main suspect.
“This is a dangerous and unprecedented attempt in the history of Israel, to prevent the people of Israel from having the government they have voted for,” Gantz said, referring to the Sept 17 elections, in which his party won the largest number of votes.
He blamed Netanyahu for “entrenching himself in an interim government for over a year,” to avoid indictment.
The regime now enters a 21-day period, in which any lawmaker with 61 supporters in parliament could present a government, before new elections are called.
Israel’s political system has been paralysed since the closely-fought election on Sept 17, in which no party won enough votes to form a majority coalition in the 120-seat parliament.
The elections were the second time Israelis cast their votes in five months. Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government, following the Apr elections, which led to the second elections in Sept.– NNN-XINHUA