Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted a compromise proposed by MK Zvi Hauser that extends the deadline for the state budget by 100 days, staving off a possible fourth election in under two years, which is what would have happened if the cabinet had not passed a budget by the original deadline of midnight Monday.
After three deadlocked elections, Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz reached a power-sharing agreement in April to form a government to address the coronavirus crisis. As part of their coalition deal, Likud and Blue and White agreed to pass a two-year budget.
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However, Netanyahu has insisted on passing a budget to cover only the remainder of 2020, saying it would provide immediate assistance to the economy. Gantz is adamant that the government honor its agreement and pass one for 2020 and 2021. Their disagreement has again brought the country to the brink of political meltdown.
The Knesset must pass Hauser's bill in two rounds of voting in parliament before midnight on Monday.
At a special press conference on Sunday evening, Netanyahu announced that the compromise "Allows for the immediate channeling of funds to the citizens and economy of Israel and it avoids the need for elections.
"This compromise proposal calls for the immediate approval of a special budget that will allow us to channel funds now for the opening of the school year, for assistance to the citizens of Israel, for restoring jobs, for security, for health, in effect for all areas … This is the time for unity; this is not the time for elections," Netanyahu said.
The prime minister also said that the current situation of a sub-government "within the government" must come to an end, as must the personal attacks directed against himself.
"I turn on the radio and the television now and I hear wild attacks on the prime minister, on me … I say: Enough of this. Either we work together, or we do not work together," he said.
Netanyahu said that the media was aligned against the Right.
"Even if I got the Nobel Peace Prize, they'd ask who was paying for the plane," he said.
Netanyahu also touched on the nascent deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize relations, saying it would open "a new era of peace in the Middle East. Several days ago, I was moved to see a girl in the UAE wearing a shirt with the flags of Israel and the UAE, and I was moved to see another girl in the UAE playing 'Hatikvah.' Who would have believed it?"
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Prior to the press conference, Blue and White issued a statement calling on Netanyahu to "come to his senses and go back to looking after the good of the country, rather than what is good for him personally. While 9 million citizens are expecting unity and for [the government] to handle security issues and the coronavirus epidemic, the Likud is busy with political games. That is a slap in the face to the citizens of Israel."
In a related development, Channel 13 News announced the results of a poll that indicated that the right-wing bloc was gaining traction, and would win 63 seats if an election were held now, compared to 49 seats for the center-Left, with another eight seats in the hands of Yisrael Beytenu.
The poll projected 31 seats for the Likud, compared to only 11 for Blue and White. Gantz's former partners Yair Lapid and Moshe Ya'alon, who split from the Blue and White list to form Yesh Atid-Telem, were predicted to win 19 seats.
The poll predicted 18 seats for Yamina, under former Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, and 13 seats for the Joint Arab List.
The Haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism were each projected to win seven seats, with six seats for Meretz.
According to Channel 13, Labor, Gesher, Derech Eretz, and Habayit Hayehudi would not pass the minimum electoral threshold of 3.25% if an election were held now.
When asked which candidate was best qualified to serve as prime minister, 38% of respondents said that Netanyahu was the best candidate for the job, more than twice the number who picked Bennett (17%). Another 15% said Lapid was best qualified to serve as prime minister, and only 9% thought that Gantz was the right candidate for the job.
