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Can doing nothing bring down Netanyahu?

With the days allotted by law for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new government soon to expire, some of his potential partners have adopted a tactic that could mean his political end..
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacts at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting at his Jerusalem office May 12, 2019.  Gali Tibbon/Pool via REUTERS - RC1CF7A3A580
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What appeared to be a simple and quick process of forming a new Israeli government is proving to be a bit more complicated.

After the election for the 21st Knesset on April 9, it looked like the formation of a government would be a non-issue and that the new government would constitute a continuation, in one form or another, of the outgoing government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After all, every party that participated in the outgoing coalition recommended to President Reuven Rivlin that he charge Netanyahu with forming the next government, and none of the opposition parties expressed an interest in joining Netanyahu’s right-wing camp. The Likud didn’t even invite the latter for talks for the sake of appearance, as occurred many times in the past. It seemed that no one had the time; a new government had to be formed quickly and get to work. Despite Netanyahu’s suspicion that Rivlin would find a way to charge someone else in the Likud with forming the government, the president didn’t hesitate and gave the experienced prime minister the job for the fifth time.

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