Time.news – Israel could soon see the dawn of a “new era”, with a government that for the first time in almost 13 years would not be led by Benjamin Netanyahu, but there are still many impediments on the road. Word of Yair Lapid, the leader of the centrist opposition who for almost three weeks has been working tirelessly to try to set up the executive of ‘change’.
A heterogeneous array
A tall order since it aims to put (and hold) one together extremely composite array of forces: from the nationalist right of Yamina – whose leader, Naftali Bennett, should be the first to fill the role of premier, before handing over to Lapid himself – to the conservatives of Gideon Saar (New Hope), passing through the centrists of Yesh Atid and Blue and White, up to Labor and the radical left of Meretz.
Bennett’s public commitment to such a scenario has accelerated negotiations in the last 24 hours but “there are still a lot of obstacles” to overcome, the centrist leader acknowledged, while delegations work tirelessly to put the ‘appetites’ of the various parties agree.
Among the disputes in progress, the one between Blue and White by Benny Gantz and Yisrael Beiteinu by Avigdor Lieberman for the Ministry of Agriculture; clash also between Yesh Atid and New Hope over the post of Minister of Communications and the role of speaker of the Knesset. Among the claims made, there is then that of Sàar who wants the position of attorney general to be split in two and insurance on the continuation of settlement construction activities in the West Bank.
And to the long list of cahiers de doleances was added the request of Mansour Abbas: in a face to face with the number two of Yamina, Ayelet Shaked, probable interior minister of the future executive, the head of the conservative Islamists of Ràam asked the post of deputy in the dicastery for a member of his party. A perspective that Shaked firmly opposes; however, she also upped the ante by asking to have one of the seats reserved for ministers in the Judicial Appointments Commission, in place of Labor leader Merav Michaeli. Otherwise, Bennett’s right-hand man would have threatened that “there will be no government”.
The help of conservative Islamists is crucial to allow the birth of the executiveor: with the deputies available, the coalition at the moment would reach 58, three under the majority necessary to see the light, not to mention the probable defection of at least one MP from Yamina, contrary to the agreement.
“There are still many obstacles in the way of forming a new government”, but “maybe it’s a good thing because we will have to overcome them together: it is our first test to see if we can find intelligent compromises in the coming days to reach a greater goal”, Lapid reacted, who goes on looking at the deadline on Wednesday 2 June, the date by which the composition of the government must be presented to the head of state or throw in the towel, bringing Israel closer to yet another return to the polls, the fifth in just over two years.
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