Netanyahu invites Gantz to meet: Let’s build a broad national government

Netanyahu invited Gantz to meet on Thursday, calling for a “broad unity government.”

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on opposition leader Benny Gantz to meet on  Thursday and work toward building a unity government in order to avoid the possibility of a third round of elections.

“Benny, we must establish a broad unity government today. The nation expects us, both of us, to show responsibility and work together,” Netanyahu said in an online post.

“That’s why I call you – Benny, let’s meet today, any hour, any time, to initiate this process,” the prime minister said.

“There’s no reason to come to a third election – I am against it. The order of the hour – a broad unity government, today,” he said.

Ynet reports that the Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office also reached out to Gantz’s office to coordinate a meeting between the two for Thursday.

Blue and White senior officials said that their party should be leading the unity effort: “Blue and White is the bigger party and Benny Gantz should form a broad unity government and stand at its head.”

According to Ynet, Netanyahu’s call for unity is a tactic to put the onus for forming a unity government on Gantz and, should the process fail, it will appear that it is Gantz’s fault.

On Thursday morning, at Netanyahu’s initiative, all the right-wing parties signed a ‘technical bloc’ agreement declaring that they would only join a government headed by Netanyahu.

Its purpose from Netanyahu’s perspective is to prevent right-wing Knesset members from being tempted to defect to a Blue and White-led coalition, Israel Hayom reports.

Contradicting Netanyahu’s call for a broad unity coalition, the paper reports that Netanyahu promised the right-wing factions that he would not form such a government with Gantz.

“It won’t happen,  I promise not to abandon you,” Netanyahu said, according to Israel Hayom.