Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s chances of forming a coalition seemed to increase in recent days following reports that Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party may be open to joining under a rotational prime minister agreement. However, the major political drama that occurred on Tuesday evening, causing a media uproar and widespread condemnation of the prime minister, may have vastly decreased those chances. The drama ensued over the vacant justice minister position that has been a simmering issue for weeks. Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s term as acting justice minister following the resignation of Avi Nissenkorn ended a month ago and he has repeatedly insisted that Netanyahu appoint a new justice minister but the prime minister has refused to do so. On Tuesday, Gantz insisted that a cabinet vote be held for his own candidacy for the position and he was voted down 17-10. In a surprise move, Netanyahu then called for a vote for Likud minister Ofir Akunis to fill the position, but since Gantz objected to the appointment, Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit told Netanyahu that the vote is illegal under the terms of the coalition agreement between Netanyahu and Gantz. However, Netanyahu proceeded with the vote anyway and the meeting erupted into shouts and accusations, with Mandelblit loudly insisting that the vote is illegal, telling the prime minister: “You held a vote against the opinion of the attorney general – this is unprecedented.” Netanyahu’s actions led to a storm of criticism and condemnation against the prime minister, with many politicians, including Sa’ar, issuing scathing statements against his lack of adherence to the law and his past agreements. The Blue and White party went so far as to write that Netanyahu “tried to carry out another terror attack against democracy, and Blue and White stopped them.” Gantz also made a statement warning Sa’ar and Bennett that Netanyahu cannot be trusted to adhere to his agreements. In the wake of the uproar, Netanyahu asked Mandelbit for a 48-hour extension on the Supreme Court decision to appoint a justice minister “to try to reach an agreement between the two sides.” Meanwhile, the Supreme Court froze Akunis’s appointment as justice minister Tuesday evening and scheduled a meeting on Wednesday afternoon to review the case. However, on Wednesday, Netanyahu backed down and agreed to appoint Gantz as justice minister and requested that the Supreme Court cancel the hearing. Nevertheless, the damage has been done and the incident seems to have destroyed the chances of Sa’ar and Bennett agreeing to join a government under Netanyahu. A senior Likud official told Channel 12 News that Netanyahu “made a serious mistake” in pushing the vote on Akunis even after the attorney general said it was illegal. Meanwhile, Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett met with the chairman of the Islamic Ra’am party, Mansour Abbas, on Tuesday as part of his efforts to form a national-unity government without Netanyahu and the Likud, and he is also scheduled to hold further talks with Yair Lapid. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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