Challenger Benny Gantz fails to form Israeli government, deepening political crisis

JERUSALEM — Benny Gantz, the former army chief, failed in his month-long attempt to put together a governing coalition Wednesday, prolonging Israel’s protracted political gridlock and making it likely voters will have to endure a third national election in less than a year.

Gantz, who has rocketed to the top tier of Israeli politics, caused a stir in October when he became the first person other than Benjamin Netanyahu given a chance to form a government here in a decade. Twenty-eight days later, his mandate to try is expiring with no parliamentary majority in sight. After weeks of negotiation among Israel’s fractious parties, the deadline has come and gone, another way station to nowhere in the country’s year-long political stalemate.

Gantz said in a statement Wednesday that he had informed Israeli President Reuven Rivlin that it was not possible to form a government.

For the next three weeks, the law allows any member of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, a chance to do what both Gantz and Prime Minister Netanyahu could not: cobble together the 61 votes needed to form a government. If this too falls short, as most analysts predict, the country’s deja-vu nightmare will continue with another election, probably in March.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/challenger-benny-gantz-fails-to-form-israeli-government-deepening-political-crisis/2019/11/20/9e6da19c-0b14-11ea-8054-289aef6e38a3_story.html

Bibi must be ecstatic.