Gantz Gives Up…Third Election to Come?

Stand for Israel | November 20, 2019

Benny Gantz Receives Mandate To Form A Government — JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - OCTOBER 23: Israeli President Reuven Rivlin (R) and Blue and White Party Leader Benny Gantz leave a nomination ceremony on October 23, 2019 in Jerusalem, Israel. Gantz has received a mandate to form a government after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Israel just might be headed to a record third set of elections in under a year. The Jerusalem Post’s Gil Hoffman reports that prime minister candidate General Benny Gantz has conceded his own mandate to form a coalition government, paving the way for a possible unprecedented third round of voting:

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz informed President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday evening that he did not succeed in forming a governing coalition.
Gantz returned the mandate four hours before the midnight deadline.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent an olive branch to Gantz on Wednesday after coalition kingmaker Avigdor Liberman ended the last chance for Gantz to form a minority government.
Netanyahu and Gantz met late Tuesday night and left without an agreement on a unity government. They attacked each other after the meeting, but Netanyahu reached out to him in a meeting of the 55 MKs in his bloc of right-wing and religious parties.
“Benny Gantz, it is not too late,” Netanyahu said. “Come sit together and announce still tonight that we are forming a unity government. This is what Israel needs. It is forbidden to drag Israel into additional elections…”