Israel’s parliament on Thursday voted in favour of a legislative change that would pave the way for the formation of a new government.
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The new law provides for the office of prime minister to rotate between caretaker prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz.
If sworn in next week, the new government would end a stalemate that has paralysed Israel’s political life for more than a year and seen the country hold three elections in a bid to break the deadlock.
A coalition agreement already in place between Netanyahu’s centre-right Likud party and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White alliance foresees Netanyahu handing the office to Gantz after 18 months, in October 2021.
Both men will be sworn in at the same time, next Wednesday, according to Israeli media reports, with the leader who is not holding the office of prime minister serving in the newly created position of deputy prime minister.
However, pressure group, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel said it had filed an appeal with Israel’s high court against the new legislation, saying it was unlawful.
Opposition parties Yesh Atid and Telem also criticised the coalition, calling it “corrupt”.
But events are moving quickly in favour of a new government.
A majority of 72 of the 120 lawmakers in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, recommended that Netanyahu be given another mandate to form a government, even though he is facing corruption charges in court.
“Representatives of both parties have just submitted a list of 72 signatories to President Reuven Rivlin, endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu’s formation of a national emergency government” Likud and Blue and White said in a joint statement.
The government would be “led by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Blue and White chairman … Benny Gantz,” the joint statement confirmed.
Meanwhile, President Rivlin was expected later on Thursday to address the heads of the Knesset party factions to confirm his plans to hand a mandate to Netanyahu within the next two days, a spokesman said.
“We are in the midst of an unprecedented period, during which the country has undergone three consecutive rounds of elections in the last year and has, in addition, faced the coronavirus along with the rest of the world,” he is expected to say.
The news of a potential breakthrough came the day after Israel’s highest court rejected petitions against another term for Netanyahu under the coalition agreement, paving the way for the formation of a new government.
The petitioners had argued Netanyahu should be ineligible because of pending court cases against him.
The judges ruled that, regardless of a corruption charge, there was “no legal reason to oppose the fact that the mandate to form a government is given to Benjamin Netanyahu,” the verdict said.
The prosecutor general accuses Netanyahu of fraud and breach of trust, as well as bribery.
The trial is set to begin on May 24.
However, Netanyahu has rejected all allegations.
Under Israeli law, a prime minister is required to resign only after receiving a final sentence.
A minister, on the other hand, has to give up his office as soon as a charge is brought.
Israel would have had to vote for the fourth time since April 2019 had the court ruled against Netanyahu’s further term.