President Reuven Rivlin is likely to use his powers to speed up the formation of a new government after the Sept. 17 election by truncating the allotted period for negotiations between the parties, political sources told Israel Hayom.
Under Israeli law, following a Knesset election, the president consults with parties and then asks the MK who has the most support to form a government within 28 days.
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The designated prime minister, who is usually the head of the largest party, may ask the president for another 14 days if he or she fails to win a confidence vote in the Knesset for a new government.
This extension is usually granted to allow the various parties to finalize the details of their coalition deals and prepare for a confidence vote.
But political sources told Israel Hayom over the weekend that this time around things will be different: After the Sept. 17 election, Rivlin will make it clear that no extension would be granted and that if a designated prime minister fails to form a government then he would tap another MK to do so, potentially from another party.
The new policy is likely designed to avert another early election.
After the April 9 election, Rivlin tasked incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with forming a new government and later gave him an extension as requested.
But Netanyahu could not muster enough support for a confidence vote even during the extension. Netanyahu also made sure that Rivlin would not tap another MK when he immediately passed a bill that dissolved the Knesset barely a month after it had been inaugurated.
This was the first time in Israeli history that a new Knesset was dispersed without a new government being sworn in.
Several weeks ago Rivlin hinted that he would use his powers to avoid yet another election, saying he would "use the law to the fullest extent to avoid a third [early] election."
