Israel Faces New Vote Prospect After Coalition Talks Fail
Ex-military chief Benny Gantz’s failure means the country is likely headed for a third election in a year
TEL AVIV—Former military chief Benny Gantz failed to form a government by his Wednesday deadline, raising the likelihood of a third election in a year while prolonging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rule and political uncertainty in the country.
Mr. Gantz blamed his inability to form a unity government on the Israeli premier and Mr. Gantz said he was willing to make far-reaching compromises.
“I appeal again to Netanyahu, Israel is more important and stronger than you, the choice of Israeli voters is stronger than any bloc,” Mr. Gantz said in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night, one month after receiving a presidential mandate to form a government.
Israel will now for the first time enter a three-week period whereby the 120 members of its parliament will attempt to find a majority to either support Mr. Gantz or Mr. Netanyahu again, or pick a third candidate to try to form a government. If they fail, Israelis will vote again, likely in early March, with Mr. Netanyahu leading the country in the interim.
Opinion polls predict a third election would bring Israel straight back to the current stalemate.
Wednesday’s result is a victory of sorts for Mr. Netanyahu, who is better positioned as premier to face a possible indictment by Israel’s attorney general on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate criminal cases.
Mr. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing. He says he won’t seek immunity if he’s indicted but his supporters say they will work within Israel’s parliament to do so on his behalf. A decision by the attorney general is expected within days.
Mr. Gantz’s failure comes after Avigdor Lieberman, who emerged as a kingmaker after September’s inconclusive election, said earlier Wednesday that his Yisrael Beiteinu party wouldn’t back either Mr. Gantz’s Blue and White party, or Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud, blaming them both for presenting conditions he said he couldn’t support.
In Mr. Gantz’s case, that meant backing or joining a minority government in coordination with Israel’s Arab parties, who Mr. Lieberman accused of being a “fifth column.” Mr. Lieberman also scorned the ultraorthodox parties that Mr. Netanyahu wants in a unity government.
With both options unpalatable to him, he said he would prefer third elections and urged Israel to consider electoral reforms including a direct vote.
“A narrow government will be unable to deal with the developments and the decisions that must be made,” Mr. Lieberman said, dimming the prospects of either Mr. Gantz or Mr. Netanyahu forming a government in the next three weeks.
At the same time, Mr. Gantz said he preferred to form a national unity government as a more stable alternative to a minority government, but rejected an alliance with Mr. Netanyahu that would allow him to serve as premier while he faces possible graft charges.
Mr. Netanyahu had earlier Wednesday appealed to Mr. Gantz to negotiate a new government with both Likud and Blue and White, the two largest parties.
He said the Trump administration’s policy shift this week to no longer consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal offered a historic opportunity to form a unity government and annex the Jordan Valley and other parts of the territory.
“It’s not too late,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “We must not lose a single day—we have already lost a whole year.”
If Israel has a third election, the Trump administration is likely to shelve its Israeli-Palestinian peace plan after having failed for more than two years to find an appropriate time to release it. U.S. officials have said they are waiting for Israel to form a government before putting out their political blueprint, after several delays.
Both Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gantz predicted their parties would win if a third vote was held, with the Blue and White leader saying voters across the political spectrum are fed up with Mr. Netanyahu and his long rule.
“Netanyahu, if at the end of the day we descend into elections because of you...we will win and establish a national reconciliation government, wide and strong,” Mr. Gantz said.
In September’s election, no party or coalition secured the 61 seats needed to control Israel’s parliament, called the Knesset. Mr. Gantz’s Blue and White party won 33 seats, while Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud secured 32. Mr. Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party won eight seats.
The deadlock created a monthslong political standoff between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gantz, a onetime army chief and relative political neophyte who has benefited from voter fatigue over his former boss’s long reign.
Questions over the balance of religion and state were also prominent in Israel’s elections, including the role Israel’s burgeoning ultraorthodox community should play in the military and the place religion should have in civil society. A year ago, Mr. Lieberman withdrew his support for Mr. Netanyahu over the premier’s growing dependence on religious parties to keep himself in power, sparking the current political standoff.
The Knesset can still tap Mr. Gantz or Mr. Netanyahu to try again. Political analysts said if Mr. Netanyahu is charged, members of his Likud party and some of his right-wing religious supporters could break ranks and join a government led by another Likud candidate or by Mr. Gantz.
Mr. Netanyahu faces as much as 10 years in prison if convicted of the most serious of the charges—bribery—and his critics have accused him of leading Israel into a series of elections to remain prime minister and pass legislation that would grant him immunity from prosecution.