Over 4.1 million gather at Grand Mosque on 29th night of Ramadan    Myanmar earthquake death toll climbs to 144    Zelenskyy says new US draft minerals deal 'significantly differs,' rules out treating aid as a loan    Sudanese army says it has cleared final RSF positions in Khartoum    Trump renews push to acquire Greenland    Interior minister visits Grand Mosque operations center    Saudi Arabia prepares over 19,000 mosques and open-air prayer grounds for Eid Al-Fitr prayers    Reef Saudi bazaar celebrates rural heritage with traditional crafts and strong public turnout    World's largest barbershop opens at Clock Towers Center in Makkah to serve pilgrims    Saudi non-oil exports jump 10.7% in January    Saudi creatives shine at Jeddah's Fawanees Nights with art, fashion, and storytelling    OMODA&JAECOO Accelerate Global Expansion JAECOO J8 records strong first month orders in Saudi Arabia, J5 prepares for launch    LOT - The Value Shop makes its grand debut in Hafar Al-Batin    100 Thieves claim Marvel Rivals Invitational NA crown as 2025 scene heats up    T1 CEO confirms Gumayusi's return for LCK Spring after lineup shakeup    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Saudi Arabia hold Japan to goalless draw in Saitama to stay in World Cup hunt    Disney's Snow White film tops box office despite bad reviews    NewJeans announces hiatus after setback in court battle    George Foreman, heavyweight champion and cultural icon, dies at 76    Court rules against K-pop group NewJeans in record label dispute    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Netanyahu scrambles for allies as deadline to form government looms
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 29 - 05 - 2019

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambled to cobble together parliamentary support for a coalition on Wednesday, just hours ahead of a deadline to form a new government or face the possible end of his decade of combative leadership of Israel.
In a parallel countdown, the 120-seat assembly debated a motion to dissolve itself and trigger snap elections that Netanyahu could contest anew, rather than being forced to step aside for a rival to try to form a coalition.
Netanyahu's plans for a fifth term following an election in April were cast into doubt by a presumed ally, rightist ex-defense minister Avigdor Lieberman, who has conditioned sitting in government with ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties on amendments to their military draft exemptions.
Three hours before the 2100 GMT deadline, Netanyahu's conservative Likud party announced that it had managed to sign up 60 lawmakers — half the assembly but just shy of a majority.
Even that account was disputed, however, by the center-right Kulanu party, which had previously said it would run with Likud. "Kulanu has not signed a coalition deal," the party tweeted.
In another sign of Netanyahu's strong desire to retain the premiership, the opposition center-left Labour party said it had been offered — and had refused — an offer to join a Likud-led coalition. Likud, which said it plans to head a right-wing government, neither denied of confirmed this.
Political sources said Netanyahu was simultaneously seeking agreement with the leaders of parties on voting to dissolve parliament and setting a mid-September date for a new election.
Having declared himself the election winner last month after he squeezed past an insurgent centrist challenger, ex-general Benny Gantz, Netanyahu saw his political future hang in the balance.
Failure to forge a coalition would take the task out of the 69-year-old Netanyahu's hands and empower President Reuven Rivlin to ask another legislator, either from Likud or the opposition, to try.
Political commentator Chemi Shalev, writing in the left-wing Haaretz daily, said a last-minute agreement was still possible and Netanyahu would still be the favorite to win a new election.
But he said Netanyahu's critics now find themselves fantasizing about a world without him. The prime minister, first elected in the late 1990s, has been in power for the last decade.
"It's not an easy task, given his decade in power and the four more years he supposedly had coming. Young Israelis can't even begin to imagine an Israel without him: Netanyahu as prime minister is all they've ever known," Shalev wrote.
Lieberman has stuck to his guns in a battle with the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, a member of Netanyahu's current interim government, to limit traditional military draft exemptions for Jewish seminary students.
Without the support of Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party, which has five Knesset seats, Netanyahu cannot put together a majority government of right-wing and religious factions.
The brinkmanship six weeks after the closely contested April ballot has deepened political uncertainty in a country riven with division.
A new election could also complicate US efforts to press ahead with President Donald Trump's peace plan in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Even before it has been announced Palestinians have rejected it as a blow to their aspirations for statehood.
The White House team behind the proposal, including Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, is in the Middle East to drum up support for an economic "workshop" in Bahrain next month to encourage investment in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. The group is due in Israel on Thursday.
Lieberman said on Wednesday he was not backing down in what he termed a matter of principle over the conscription issue, and he denied Likud allegations his real intention was to oust Netanyahu and lead a "national camp".
Until the drama over coalition-building, public attention had been focused more on moves Netanyahu loyalists were planning in parliament to grant him immunity from criminal prosecution and to pass a law ensuring such protection could not be withdrawn by the Supreme Court.
Netanyahu faces possible indictment in three corruption cases. He has denied any wrongdoing in the cases and is due to argue at a pre-trial hearing in October against the attorney-general's intention, announced in February, to indict him on bribery and fraud charges. — Reuters


Clic here to read the story from its source.