Four copies of the coalition agreement for a new unity government were printed on the afternoon of April 6. But suddenly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retracted his agreement on who would sit on the Committee for the Appointment of Judges, signaling that negotiations had broken down. Netanyahu changed his mind while the various news channels were busy reporting on the creation of a “coronavirus government,” in which Netanyahu would end his term in office in another 18 months, and be replaced by Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz.
On April 3, Netanyahu and Gantz met for hours on the famous patio in the prime minister’s house on Balfour Street, while maintaining a safe distance in accordance with the Health Ministry's guidelines. Most of their political and legal advisers were on the phone. Obstacles were removed one after another. The overall mood was that a great event was about to take place. Both sides seemed to want to make a deal before the Passover holiday, so they both made important concessions.
Gantz agreed to concede on the possible annexation of certain territories in the West Bank as part of the US peace plan, after first requesting that such a move require the agreement of the international community. Now he accepted Netanyahu’s demand that annexation be unilaterally brought before the government for approval. Netanyahu seemed to have given up on the right’s hold on the Committee for the Appointment of Judges and the veto he had demanded on the matter. Furthermore, Netanyahu agreed that Knesset member Avi Nissenkorn, a former head of the Histadrut labor union, would be appointed minister of justice. He also agreed to forego the reappointment of Yuli Edelstein as Knesset speaker, to be replaced by the Likud's Yariv Levin.
A solution was also found to Blue and White's concerns that Netanyahu would not comply with his commitment to give up his office at the end of the 18 months allocated to him. The fear was that he would break the government apart right before the rotation was implemented. It was decided to change the current legislation, so that Gantz would be sworn in as prime minister together with Netanyahu. This way, once Netanyahu’s term was over, Gantz would automatically become prime minister. Gantz made enormous concessions, stepping back from his promise not to sit in a government with an idicted Netanyahu, to harsh criticism from his base.
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