Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has confirmed that he will hand over to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday the mandate to form the new government, following the completion of the consultation process after the early legislative elections held on November 1.
Herzog had already said before the start of the consultations that he expected to be able to hand over the mandate on Sunday, with the Likud leader as the big favorite after his bloc won the majority of seats in the Knesset.
Thus, a total of 64 parliamentarians have recommended ‘Bibi’ to the post of prime minister, by the 28 who have shown their support for the leader of Yesh Atid and current prime minister, Yair Lapid, according to the newspaper ‘The Jerusalem Post’.
In this way, Netanyahu has received the support of Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism, Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudiy and Noam, which will allow him to form a coalition of right-wing, ultra-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.
Lapid has counted only on the support of his party and the Labor Party, while the United National Party, Yisrael Beitenu, and the Raam and Hadash-Taal Arabs have avoided recommending any of the parliamentarians who will make up the next Knesset.
From the moment the president gives Netanyahu the mandate to form the government, he will have 28 days to assemble the new executive. If he does not succeed, he could give him an extension of fourteen days, after which he would have to decide whether to leave the task in his hands, to entrust it to someone else or to call new elections.
The consultation process has been marked by Herzog’s statements captured by an open microphone in which he affirmed that «everyone is anxious» about the possibility that the leader of the ultra-right Otzma Yehudit, Itamar Ben Gvir, will get a portfolio in the Executive.
The Israeli president conveyed these concerns Thursday to Ben Gvir himself, whom he told that he has «a certain image that worries in many places about the treatment of Arabs in the state and in the region.» «World leaders are asking questions,» he stressed.
«I am asked in the Muslim world about the Temple Mount. This is a sensitive issue,» Herzog said, referring to the Esplanade of the Mosques by the name by which Jews know the site, as reported by ‘The Times of Israel’.
In response, Ben Gvir said that he «does not treat the Arabs as a monolith», although he stressed that «there must be order». «We are not saying that the Temple Mount is not sacred to others, but we have to remember that it is our heart and our history. We are against racism and you can’t tell a Jew that he can’t go because he is Jewish. I am for equal rights,» he concluded.
Ben Gvir has been accused in the past of inciting violence and stirring up tensions with Palestinians. The MP has made numerous visits to the Esplanade of the Mosques and supports allowing Jews to pray at the site, which is currently forbidden.
If appointed Minister of Public Security, Ben Gvir would be in charge of security operations at the Esplanade of the Mosques, located in the Old City of Jerusalem and the epicenter of tensions in recent months between Israelis and Palestinians, who protest against violations of the status quo at the site.
