Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz is running out of time. His mandate to form Israel’s future government expires Nov. 20. If he fails in his task, the Knesset will have 21 days to form a government. If that option fails as well, Israelis will be sent to the ballot boxes for a third time within a year. That would give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu some four additional months to lead the interim government he has been heading since the April 2019 elections. In other words, Israel will be run for one whole year by a government that has not won the confidence of the Knesset.
Although he leads a provisional government, Netanyahu has been hiring and firing ministers to his heart’s content to ensure sufficient allies who can provide him with immunity from possible criminal prosecution. The four-member Knesset faction consisting of the HaBayit HaYehudi-National Union parties now holds the Education and Transportation ministries. The New Right faction with its three Knesset members now holds the Defense Ministry portfolio — all in return for their unconditional support and loyalty to Netanyahu.
