Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid is poised to inform President Reuven Rivlin that he has been able to cobble together a coalition thereby unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, party sources said Tuesday.
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Given the impending announcement, and in an apparent last-ditch effort to prevent the move, the Likud has appealed to the legal adviser of the president as well as to the Knesset's legal adviser, demanding that Lapid be made to "meet the same conditions for the formation of a government that were required from Netanyahu."
According to the Likud, as Rivlin vested the mandate to form the government with Lapid, whose Yesh Atid party won 17 Knesset seats in March's elections, he cannot use that privilege name another MK as prime minister in his place.
Naftali Bennett's Yamina party won seven seats but to agree to join Lapid's government he has demanded – and was granted – first turn as prime minister as part of a power-sharing deal.
The Likud, however, contends that the move violates Basic Law: The Government and has asked the legal advisers to review the matter.
Meanwhile, other Likud sources said that Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin could use his legal right to postpone the vote on any new government, thus delaying the process by at least another week – past the deadline given to Lapid.
A new government must be sworn in following a vote of confidence held as part of a special Knesset session. As speaker, Levin has the power to determine when the vote takes place.
By law, once Lapid informs Rivlin that he can form a government, a special Knesset session can be called within 24 hours. Levin, however, is expected to delay the process in an attempt to prevent the move, which would spell the end of Netanyahu's long run as prime minister.
The rumored move has already met with harsh criticism, but according to the Jerusalem Post, a Likud official defended the possibility, saying that "Levin has the legal right to delay it [the vote] by a week. It's not playing a game with the law. It is understandable that we want to torpedo the formation of the [new] government."
It is unclear whether – should Levin do so, and given the fact that Netanyahu has been unable to form a government himself – such a deferral would spell another general election for Israel.
If it does, it would be the fifth time in two years that Israelis go to the polls.
Lapid sought to inform Rivlin that his efforts were successful on Monday, but Yamina No. 2, MK Ayelet Shaked, presented a new demand, seeking to be named to the Judicial Nominations Committee instead of Labor leader Merav Michaeli. As of Tuesday morning, the issue has yet to be resolved.
Bennett announced that he would be joining Lapid's government on Sunday. The apparent coalition would see him serve as prime minister first, with Lapid serving as PM-designate and foreign minister.
Shaked is slated to serve as interior minister, Michaeli will serve as transportation minister, Labor MK Omer Bar-Lev will be named public security minister, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz will remain defense minister, and Yisrael Beytenu's Avigdor Lieberman will serve as finance minister.
New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar is expected to serve as justice minister, Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz will be named health minister, Yesh Atid's Karine Elharrar will serve as communication minister, New Hope MK Yifat Shasha-Biton will serve as education minister, Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg will serve as environmental protection minister, fellow party MK Esawi Frej is slated to serve as regional cooperation minister.
Yamina's Matan Kahana will serve as religious affairs minister, Blue and White MKs Pnina Tamano-Shata and Alon Schuster will continue in their respective roles of aliyah and integration minister and agriculture minister, respectively. Party member Hili Tropper will serve as culture minister.
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