Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz were given a further 48 hours to try and reach a coalition deal, the Times of Israel reports. President Reuven Rivlin agreed the short extension minutes before the midnight-on-Monday deadline that Gantz had been given to form a government.
With talks between the two leading candidates for Prime Minister sputtering again, Israeli President Reuben Rivlin warned Sunday that a fourth election could be forthcoming.
Israel’s High Court ruled Sunday that a petition to disqualify Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a new government was filed too early. The petition claims Netanyahu should be barred from leading the country because of the corruption charges he faces. Justice Alex Stein dismissed the petition on the grounds that President Reuven Rivlin has not asked Netanyahu to form a government coalition this time around. Nevertheless, the Times of Israel reports, the Court said the application could be renewed should Rivlin give Netanyahu such a mandate in due course.
Rabbis in Israel are calling for the reinstitution of the temple service as a means of averting plagues, pointing to the Passover sacrifice that saved the Israelites in Egypt as a model for understanding current events.
Israel’s president on Sunday turned down a request from Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz for a two-week extension to form a new coalition government.
Israeli officials say the government wants to gradually reopen the country’s economy hit hard by a coronavirus pandemic that overshadowed the Passover holiday. But in a setback for the tourism industry, regular flights will only resume in September, Israeli media reported Saturday.
Blue & White and Likud on Wednesday accused each other of stalling the negotiations to form a unity government and backing out of agreements.
The Sanhedrin is anxiously awaiting a response from the Israeli government about whether it will be able to perform the Passover sacrifice on the Temple Mount for the first time since the second temple in the first century AD.
Many Jewish leaders are making surprising comments about the imminent arrival of the messiah, even suggesting that a savior figure could arrive as early as Passover.
All Israelis must wear face masks while in public as a precaution against the coronavirus, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.
Protestors in Jaffa, Israel joined with a young man Wednesday who was accosted by police for defying government orders to not depart more than 328 feet from his home.
Israel’s most senior Health Minister has tested positive for coronavirus, government officials confirmed Thursday. Yaakov Litzman has entered isolation together with his wife, who also tested positive. Litzman is part of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community which, according to unofficial figures cited by Israeli TV channels Sunday, make up half the country’s hospitalized coronavirus patients.
Interim Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz were said in some reports to be inching closer to forming a unity coalition, with claims that the government could be sworn in as early as next Monday, but other sources said squabbles within the premier’s bloc were complicating the negotiations.
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.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Wednesday that a full closure of the country could be introduced within days to curb the coronavirus pandemic, hours after further restrictions on Israelis’ movement were put into effect.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz discussed the possibility of setting up an emergency government to tackle the coronavirus Wednesday, taking a rare step toward a much-touted unity coalition.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz on Tuesday both expressed willingness to continue efforts to form a unity government that would include both their parties, even as Likud and Blue and White kept hurling accusations at each other.
Israeli Likud and Blue and White parties are nearing an agreement to form an emergency unity government after Netanyahu rival Benny Gantz relinquished his former refusal to work with the beleaguered Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday tightened the national stay-at-home policy aimed at containing the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, announcing the guidelines he had introduced earlier this week would now be enforced by police under emergency orders.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday announced that Israel would begin using advanced digital monitoring tools to track carriers of the coronavirus, raising major privacy concerns and prompting accusations of mass surveillance.