Drama in Israel’s Knesset: Swearing-in ceremony of new government delayed
The national-unity government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz has not been established yet, but already suffers from obstacles.
Just half an hour before he was slated to swear in his fifth government on May 14, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu surprised everyone by announcing that he was putting the ceremony on hold. In doing so, he placed the entire Israeli political system into yet another state of uncertainty.
While the swearing-in ceremony was only postponed until May 17, this strange development not only impinged on the festive mood that comes with the occasion but also raised fears in the Blue and White party that Netanyahu has decided to rip the whole agreement up at the very last moment. Was Netanyahu signaling that he would prefer a fourth round of elections instead?
This certainly wasn’t what Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz had hoped to see as the start of a new government, certainly not after so many weeks of exhausting coalition negotiations with Netanyahu, not to mention all the major concessions Gantz had made.
Netanyahu did call to explain that he hadn’t finished doling out all the Cabinet portfolios and other important jobs to the members of his Likud party, and that he needed a little more time. Surprised by this, Gantz demanded that the new government be sworn in anyway, even if it happens in the middle of the night. But Netanyahu made it clear to Gantz that this would be impossible, at least as far as the prime minister was concerned.
