In the first few days after he was tapped by President Reuven Rivlin to form the next government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said publicly that if he did not succeed, he would return the mandate to the president. But long days of negotiations have passed since then, and Netanyahu still hasn't taken the step.
Israel Hayom has learned that the prime minister's staff has been holding talks with various political officials recently, and voicing their concern that Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman would drag the country into a third election and ensure that Netanyahu would lose the role of prime minister before the election was held.
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Netanyahu's staff talked with members of the right-wing bloc and explained that they were worried that if Gantz were given the mandate to form a government, he would secure the support of 57 MKs, including Arab MKs. In that scenario, Gantz would be named prime minister, but because he would not have a majority, he could not serve as prime minister for an extended period of time.
According to Netanyahu's people, the first time a vote of confidence was held, Lieberman would vote with the opposition and bring down the government. This would require the country to hold a third election, and Netanyahu would run – but not as prime minister, which means he would be at a political disadvantage.
Political officials who talked with the prime minister's staff have called concern over a minority government scenario "paranoia," but say that in the existing political reality, anything could happen.
Sources close to Netanyahu are saying that recent interviews by Yisrael Beytenu MKs prove that a minority government could rise, since they have been saying that there is no chance they would support a government under Gantz that included the Arab parties, but are not discussing the possibility of preventing that scenario in the first place.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu has decided not to travel to Japan next week for the enthronement of the Japanese emperor, both because of criticism of his plans in the Likud and what the party is calling "scheduling difficulties."
On Tuesday evening, thousands of Likud activists visited Foreign Minister Israel Katz's sukkah.
"Lieberman is taking out a political hit on the prime minister," Katz told them.
"Lieberman is responsible, more than anyone else, for paralyzing the Israeli political system. As the president proposed, the only solution is a unity government, without rejecting any individuals and without cutting anyone off."
Katz also said he planned to run for prime minister at some point in the future.
"When Netanyahu finishes his time in office, I intend to run for head of the Likud and prime minister, and I'm sure I'll win," he said.
