With half a day left before Blue and White leader Benny Gantz's mandate to form a government expires at midnight Monday, senior political officials spoke to Israel Hayom and warned that there was a "real danger" that the country would have to hold a fourth general election.
"There is a clear and present danger of having to hold a fourth election. If there is no agreement between Gantz and [Prime Minister] Netanyahu in the next few hours, the process of passing laws that take aim at Netanyahu personally will begin, and will inevitably deteriorate into a fourth election.
"The Right needs to wake up and realize that sovereignty is in danger, too, because the Trump administration will not allow it without a unity government in Israel. We are sounding the alarm. It's not clear why right-wing leaders and senior Likud officials are staying quiet," one official said.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
On Sunday, President Reuven Rivlin outraged Netanyahu's Likud party when he announced that if Gantz failed to form a government by midnight Monday, he would hand the task over to the Knesset, bypassing Netanyahu.
The Likud party sent Rivlin a letter signed by ministers Israel Katz and Yariv Levin which demanded that the mandate be given to Netanyahu, "the only candidate who can possibly form a government."
"The only framework for a unity government agreeable to both the Likud and Blue and White is to form a government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," the letter declared.
The letter went on to argue that it would "against the will of the voters" if Netanyahu were not given the opportunity to form a government, as he heads both the largest party and the largest bloc in the Knesset.
In a surprise move on Sunday, MK Orly Levy-Abekasis, who heads the Gesher party, which ran on a joint list with Labor in the March 2 election, announced that she was rejoining the right-wing bloc and spoke out in support of Netanyahu forming Israel's next government.
In a message on her Facebook account, Levy-Abekasis wrote: "A new situation – a realistic conclusion. Gantz's appeal to the president for an extension of his mandate is an admission that he is incapable of forming a government.
Netanyahu shared her post and commented, "Welcome, Orly."
Levy-Abekasis joined the leaders of Yamina and the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism in a joint call for Rivlin to tap Netanyahu to form the government.
"[Netanyahu] has 59 recommendations – after the previous election in September, you gave Benny Gantz, who had only 54 recommendations, the mandate," the party leaders wrote.
The President's Office said Sunday that Rivlin was not taking the side of any candidate and that his only goal was to see a government in place as soon as possible. According to the President's Office, all the political moves thus far could have taken place within the first 21 days.
In addition, Blue and White and the Likud put out a joint message on Sunday announcing that they would be stopping interviews "in an attempt to facilitate the negotiations to form an emergency unity government."
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, who is leading the Likud negotiating team, said, "The prime minister is completely committed to the idea of unity and does not see any other way to a stable government. That is what Israel needs."
Meanwhile, officials in Blue and White told Israel Hayom on Monday that the party hoped it could wrap up negotiations on Monday, just before Gantz's mandate ran out.
The officials said that Blue and White was ready to strike a coalition deal, but was unwilling to compromise on certain issues pertaining to the legal system.
As Blue and White waits with baited breath, the factions that broke off from it, Yesh Atid and Telem, continue to prod Gantz.
Telem leader Moshe Ya'alon re-tweeted a message from last week in which he said, "Benny, it's clear that your naïve intention to join an emergency government is being met with callous exploitation by the man under indictment [Netanyahu] who evaded the defendant's stand. If you agree to his demands to shore up his leadership and make him a ruler who is above the law, you will be going back on the mission that united us. It's still not too late to correct your course."
Yair Altman and Yori Yalon contributed to this report
