Negotiations to Prevent New Elections Continue

Only two days of legislation remain until the Knesset is set to automatically call for new elections, Tuesday at midnight, while over the weekend feverish negotiations took place between the Likud and Blue and White through their mediators and even a direct conversation was held between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz.

The main minefield is the reduction of the powers of Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn (Blue and White). The Likud wants to make a number of changes in his powers, notably regarding the appointment of new judges, attorney general and even cancel the appointment of the state attorney that has already been announced.

On this issue, the winds in Blue and White are turbulent, with Nissenkorn and a group of other MKs fortifying their position that Blue and White should not compromise on any of the issues and that it is better to go to the polls before Pesach, even though Blue and White is in danger of not passing the electoral threshold.

During the past night, Gantz and Nissenkorn confronted each other, when according to reports Gantz was quoted as accusing Nissenkorn of “worrying more about his chair than about the future of Blue and White.” Gantz later tried to reassure the Blue and White MKs that he is trying to deal with the situation with caution, and asked the MKs not to create additional noise around this issue.

It should be noted that in order to act to prevent elections beyond the agreements on the extension of the premiership, postponing the rotation and transferring the budget, first of all a change in legislation is required that will prevent the dissolution of the Knesset.