It appears: President Rivlin will transfer the mandate to Yair Lapid Israel today

Tonight at midnight: The political thriller will culminate with the expiration of Netanyahu's mandate - but the complication is far from resolved • Assessment: The mandate will not go to the right-wing chairman - even if he has a majority • The reasoning: Angry: "This is a political intervention"

• President Rivlin and MK Yair Lapid

The political tangle will reach a particularly tense turning point tonight (Tuesday) at the end of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's mandate. The President's House clarified that they do not intend to hold another official round of recommendations, and estimated that Naftali Bennett will not accept the mandate because "one bloc has already tried" - and The mandate will also be transferred to Yair Lapid or back to the Knesset.

A senior official at the President's House told Israel Today that "there will be no further round of consultations. Anyone who wants to can pass on his position. The president will get the picture based on everything he sees before his eyes - talks with faction representatives who will ask him for a meeting, political assessments and any picture." His situation. " 

Accordingly, even the suspicion within the blocs reaches a boiling point.

Yair Lapid demands that the mandate be handed over to him in order to prevent a situation in which Naftali Bennett accepts him and tries to form a government with Netanyahu and the right.

Bennett, on the other hand, claims that he sought to close the negotiations in the change bloc to prevent this debate, but does not seem to have refused to have the power in his hands.

One of the possible scenarios discussed yesterday was that the right-wing bloc would recommend to the president to transfer the mandate to Bennett.

In such a situation, Bennett will receive 59 supporters consisting of the Likud, the right, religious Zionism and the ultra-Orthodox, who will face Lapid's 45 supporters (Yesh Atid, Blue and White, Labor and Meretz), and even if Saar asks the president to change his recommendation, the bloc will reach 51 seats. only.

What underlies this idea is to allow Bennett to try to form a right-wing government as he promised he would do.

However, in talks with the President's House, it was clarified that such a plan is out of the question, and as stated, the president is not expected to transfer the mandate to Bennett - since for the president, Bennett's attempt to form a government with the Likud is "more of the same".

The President's House is following the political developments and they also heard Bennett tell Netanyahu yesterday that even though he is with Netanyahu, they do not have a government.

Bennett: "Netanyahu's proposal is not understood, Smutrich burned all the bridges" // Photo: Knesset Channel

Either way, after the seat expires tonight at midnight, the president has three days to decide how he will act - Rivlin can transfer the seat to Lapid, but if he is under the impression that Lapid also has no chance of forming a government, he is expected to transfer the seat to the Knesset.

The right-wing bloc, by the way, was careful yesterday not to blatantly attack the president, but bloc officials say it is difficult to shake off the thought that the president is interfering in political proceedings.

According to them, if Bennett arrives with 59 seats and Lapid has only 45 or 51 - there will be no reason not to transfer the seat to Bennett.

As was reported yesterday in "Israel Today", Lapid's entourage very much want to take over the mandate for fear that Bennett will "flee" towards the right-wing bloc.

Asked by Israel Today if he would relinquish the mandate in favor of Bennett, Lapid replied: "No. I will get the mandate, we have 45 recommenders, maybe there will be more. We need to get the mandate, we are the second largest party. The mandate should be with Yesh Future. "

The President's House responded: "We will not deal with the possibilities of the next mandate until the end of this mandate."

At the same time, following calls by rabbis in religious Zionism to form a government avoiding RAAM, senior RAAM officials told Israel Today that "we welcome the call. The infrastructure is ready in principle and a coalition agreement can be signed within days. Our position is known." "We do not boycott anyone and do not disqualify anyone. Whoever agrees to our demands - we will go with him." 

Disappointment in RAAM

However, the RAAM was disappointed by the reaction of Zionist Chairman Bezalel Smutrich, who made it clear that he would not agree to enter the government with their support.

The RAAM also said that if Smutrich had agreed to form a government in their abstention, Netanyahu could have reached out to the president with an outline that it was possible to form a government and could have received an extension to the mandate he had received. 

A senior Arab party official told Israel Today that the RAAM prefers a Netanyahu-led government over a Lapid-led government.

"The PM is able to contain Smutrich to give a chance to a stable and good government. Smutrich is unable to contain us, and it is a pity. The Likud and Netanyahu have not promised us anything unknown. Our demands are on the table. We want achievements for Arab society." 

Meanwhile, threats against right-wing chairman Naftali Bennett led to an unusual decision: Under the guidance of Knesset officer, Superintendent Joseph Griff, it was decided that Bennett would be accompanied by close security and his home in Raanana would be secured on an ongoing basis. 

Participating in the preparation of the article: Yuri Yalon, Daniel Sirioti and Daniel Roth-Avnery