By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News -
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mandate to form a government is set to expire Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. Barring a dramatic development during the day, it appears that President Reuven Rivlin will need to choose another candidate to task with creating a coalition.
While technically Rivlin could grant Netanyahu an extension of his mandate for an additional two weeks, this scenario is unlikely.
On Wednesday morning, Rivlin will meet with all of the party heads to hear their recommendations for the next candidate who should be granted the mandate. He will likely grant the mandate to a new candidate on Wednesday evening or Thursday.
Theoretically, Rivlin could simply hand the mandate back to the Knesset and open up the possibility for any Knesset member who receives 61 recommendations from their peers to form a government.
However, Hebrew language media reported that Rivlin said he’d avoid such a scenario, as returning the mandate to the Knesset could be perceived as akin to “endorsing a fifth election.”
Typically, the candidate with the most recommendations is given the mandate, but Rivlin can use his own judgement and grant it to the candidate he believes has the greatest chance of successfully forming a government.
As the head of Yesh Atid, the second largest party in the Knesset with 16 seats, it appears that Rivlin will most likely grant the mandate to form a government to Yair Lapid.
Hebrew language media reports that Lapid told his party to prepare for him receiving the mandate, and that he will work with Yemina head Naftali Bennett to form a unity government.
Reports on Monday indicated that Lapid prepared a sweetheart deal in exchange for Bennett’s support, proposing that he serve as prime minister first for 18 months in a rotation agreement.
The deal also allegedly reserves senior ministerial positions for Yemina members.
Bennett reportedly told Yemina party members that if they have a problem with him forming a unity government, they are welcome to resign.
There’s also a possibility that Netanyahu will order his Likud party to recommend Bennett for prime minister, which would technically grant him more recommendations than Lapid.
But a source close to Rivlin said even in that scenario, the president would give the mandate to Lapid.
If the second candidate also fails to form a government within 28 days, the mandate will be returned to the Knesset.
At that point, any Knesset member who could successfully form a government within 21 days, with a total of 61 recommendations from their colleagues, may become the prime minister.
But if 21 days pass with no coalition agreement, Israel will head to its fifth elections in a two and a half year span.
