Israeli High Court of Justice intervenes to propel Gantz into unity government with Netanyahu
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Israel’s High Court of Justice Thursday ordered a vote on the future of Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein which saw him step down, as Blue and White leader Benny Gantz filled his shoes and signaled the formation of a “national emergency government” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The move came as a surprise after months of deadlock and three elections in under a year yielded no agreement between the two main parties to form a unity of right and left-wing factions that seemed the only choice in light of continued narrow election results.
“Democracy has won,” Gantz said Thursday as he was slated to become foreign or defense minister in a government led by Netanyahu until September 2021 when the left-wing MK will become Prime Minister. “These are no ordinary days and require extraordinary decisions.”
Left-wing allies of Gantz were baffled by the move that was supported by 74 MKs and foreshadowed a coalition government comprised of Likud, Gantz’s Israel Resilience, Labor, Yamina, Shas, and United Torah Judaism–the majority of which are right-wing and religiously orthodox.
“Benny decided to dismantle Blue & White to crawl into Bibi’s government,” said former Gantz ally Yair Lapid whose Yesh Atid made up part of the Blue and White coalition. “There is no way to understand it.”
Right-wing leaders in the Knesset also questioned the High Court of Justice’s executive intervention in foreclosing Edelstein’s speakership and the sudden emergence of Gantz as a speaker now willing to join with Netanyahu in an about-face few could have predicted.
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