Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received extra time on Monday to form a new government, President Reuven Rivlin announced, granting the right-wing leader a two-week extension until May 29.
In accordance with Israeli law, Netanyahu received an initial 28-day period to form a government, with a 14-day extension possible and traditionally granted. The initial period ends on Wednesday.
On Saturday, a spokesman for Netanyahu said the prime minister would seek the extra time, citing a heavy schedule that included Jewish holidays, national memorial days and a surge of deadly fighting with the terrorist factions in the Gaza Strip earlier this month as some of the reasons for the delay.
"Meeting with ... Netanyahu today, who explained the need for additional time to form a government, I acceded to his request and granted an additional 14 days to the time allocated," Rivlin tweeted.
In office for a decade, Netanyahu won a record fifth term in an April 9 parliamentary election. Netanyahu is negotiating terms with nearly all the right-wing, nationalist and religious parties that form his outgoing government. No party in Israel has ever won an outright majority in the 120-seat Knesset, making coalition governments the norm with political negotiations often dragging on. One issue in the current talks is the Gaza Strip.
Former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, whose Yisrael Beytenu party is negotiating with Netanyahu, said Monday after the extension was announced that talks would continue, but strategy over the Gaza Strip remained a sticking point.
Accusing Netanyahu of appeasing Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers by allowing Qatari donations into the enclave, Lieberman said in public remarks: "On the matter of the Strip I think that our stance is very clear and to my regret the rifts there are still very wide."
Lieberman, whose party has five seats in parliament, said he wanted to be reappointed defense chief.
On Saturday, a spokesman for Netanyahu said the prime minister would seek the extra time, citing a heavy schedule that included Jewish holidays, national memorial days and a surge of deadly fighting with the terrorist factions in the Gaza Strip earlier this month as some of the reasons for the delay.
If Netanyahu fails to put together a coalition by then, Rivlin can ask another member of parliament to try. Former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, whose centrist Blue and White party won 35 seats, would likely be next in line.
