Calling on Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to try and form a Government can wait another 14 days—given that Netanyahu’s bloc has a clear electoral majority over the Ganz bloc—
1,973,246 votes to
1,556,491 votes .
President Trump —like bemused Israeli voters—is frustrated by an electoral system that has failed to produce a new Government following elections in April and September.
After April’s fiasco – Trump
opined:
“Well, it’s too bad what happened in Israel. It looked like a total win for Netanyahu, who’s a great guy, he’s a great guy,” said the president. “And now they’re back… in the election stage. That is too bad. Because they don’t need this. I mean they’ve got enough turmoil over there, it’s a tough place.”
That turmoil continued in September and could be repeated following any third election.
Trump’s
deal of the century—years in the making and designed
to end the 100 years Jewish-Arab conflict—will not be released until a new Israeli Government has been formed.
Liberman’s failure to sign up his 8 seats with the 55 seats aligned with Netanyahu continues to confound the democratic electoral process—when a party not securing a majority of seats in its own right can usually form a Government with a small party’s support—in return for granting that small party some of its political demands.
A full recount of the votes cast in the September 17 elections —if still legally available - could be just the miracle Israel needs to get out of its current predicament.
Clutching at straws maybe, but certainly well worth pursuing.
Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog
Israel’s President Rivlin is due to make a decision on October 24 on whether to extend for another 14 days the mandate he granted to Benjamin Netanyahu to form Israel’s next Government.
Reports that Rivlin will not give Netanyahu that 14 days extension—even if requested by Netanyahu—seems counterproductive to doing everything possible to avoid a third election within 12 months.
The President should also take advantage of that 14-day period to order a recount of votes to answer a query that the September election results have thrown up—which is encapsulated in this email I sent to the Central Elections Committee on 29 September: