JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli President on Tuesday handed over to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the difficult task of trying to form a government from the country’s broken down parliament, giving the opposing leader the opportunity to extend his long term in office while he was on trial on corruption charges.
In his announcement, President Reuven Rivlin acknowledged that no party leader had the support needed to form a 120-seat majority Knesset coalition. He also noted that many believe that Netanyahu is not fit to serve in light of his legal problems.
Still, Rivlin said there was nothing in the law that would prevent Netanyahu from acting as prime minister. After consulting the 13 parties in the newly elected parliament, Rivlin said Netanyahu had the best chance of any candidate forming a new government.
“No candidate has a realistic chance of forming a government that has the confidence of the Knesset,” Rivlin said. But, he added, Netanyahu has “a little more chance” of power.
“I have decided to entrust him with the task,” Rivlin said from Jerusalem. Rivlin added that the election “was not an easy decision on an ethical and moral basis.”
With this, Rivlin propelled the twin dramas about the country’s future and Netanyahu’s fate, giving Israel’s longest-serving prime minister a new chance to try to save his career. Netanyahu now has up to six weeks to try to form a coalition during his trial.
The first reactions of the prime minister’s sworn rivals revealed the difficult path to follow.
Yair Lapid, leader of the party that won the second highest number of seats, acknowledged that the law left Rivlin with “no choice”, but in the same tweet denounced the development as “a shameful shame that stains Israel “.
A court ruling can take months or even years. The proceedings are expected to take place up to three days a week, a shameful and lengthy distraction that will overshadow Netanyahu’s appeals to his rivals.
Netanyahu has the most support (52 seats) in the Israeli Knesset. But a 61-seat majority is still missing. He is likely to use his persuasive powers to try to attract several opponents, including several former close aides who have promised not to serve under him again, with generous offers from powerful government ministries or legislative committees.
Parties representing 45 members supported Yair Lapid, while Yamina, with seven seats, appointed its own leader, Naftali Bennett. Three parties with a total of 16 seats made no recommendations.
Rivlin’s decision combines questions about Netanyahu’s legal and political future into what is perhaps the most severe political challenge of his career.
In court, he faces fraud, breaches of trust and bribery charges in three different cases. The trials resumed on Tuesday, although the prime minister was not expected to appear in court.
A key witness chose Netanyahu on Monday as an image-obsessed leader who forced a prominent news site to help his family and litter his opponents.
Netanyahu denies all charges and in a nationally televised speech accused prosecutors of prosecuting him in an effort to expel him from office.
“That’s how a coup attempt looks like,” he said.
Monday’s court session focused on the most serious case against Netanyahu, in which he is accused of promoting regulations that delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in profits to telecommunications company Bezeq in exchange for positive coverage of the popular firm news site, Walla.
Ilan Yeshua, Walla’s former editor-in-chief, described a system in which Bezeq’s owners, Shaul and Iris Elovitch, repeatedly pressured him to post favorable things about Netanyahu and dirty the prime minister’s rivals.
The explanation they gave the couple? “That’s what the prime minister wanted,” he said.
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Kellman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.
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