Will history remember that a message on Twitter pushed the coalition? In Israel, the emergency created by the coronavirus epidemic has encouraged a rapprochement between Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz, after sixteen months of political crisis.
A few days ago, Benjamin Netanyahu posted on Twitter a warning message against the virus. Benny Gantz took over. And Israeli President Reuven Rivlin invited the two men to come and discuss it. Which they probably did.
After three legislative elections ...
After more than a year of unprecedented political crisis and three parliamentary elections which failed to decide between them, the opponent n ° 1 to "Bibi" decided to everyone's surprise to join the Prime Minister to set up an "emergency government", a "corona government", even mentions the Israeli press. This government could be chaired by a "rotation" agreement in which Gantz and Netanyahu take turns as leader.
Benny Gantz, former chief of staff and head of the “Bleu-Blanc” centrist coalition, who had obtained the mandate to form the next government on March 16, but failed to do so, de facto gave up on Thursday by being elected president of Parliament. In his bag, he took 15 of the 33 “Bleu Blanc” deputies, who joined forces with the Likoud camp.
"Benny Gantz has crawled"
“What is being formed today is not a unity government, even less than an emergency government. This is another Netanyahu government. Benny Gantz surrendered without a fight and crawled, "said Yair Lapid, one of Gantz's allies, in a statement.
If the question of "for or against" Netanyahu has dominated political life in Israel for the past year, the priority of the population today is the fight against the disease with more than 2,600 cases, including eight deaths. Likewise unemployment, which was at its lowest level, tripled. The only beneficiary of the pandemic: Netanyahu, whose trial for corruption has been postponed indefinitely.
