Does Israel's Gantz stand a chance at establishing a government?

A bargaining chip for dealing with the Likud. That’s how Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz described the option of forming a minority government with the support of the Arab Joint List after the September 2019 election. For the past few days, however, he has pushed ahead with the same idea and fully intends to implement it.

The one person behind the scenes who has given him the confidence he needs to push ahead with this is Yisrael Beitenu party chairman, Avigdor Liberman. Liberman has shifted gears in his plan to remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from politics once and for all. On March 5, it became obvious that he was willing to walk back the promise most identified with him that he would not cooperate with the Joint List. In the past, he even charged its members with aiding and abetting terrorism and told them to go to “that parliament in Ramallah.” Now, however, when forced to choose between his promise to never sit in a government with Netanyahu and his total rejection of the Joint List, Liberman chose to break the latter promise.