The clock is running out on the possibility of a resolution for the political deadlock crippling Israel, the third round of elections in the same year seems inevitable although recent polls show it is unlikely they will produce a vastly different result.
As both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and challenger Blue and White leader Benny Gantz have failed to form a coalition, parliament has until midnight on Wednesday to task one of its members with forming a government, a move which will automatically grant it a two-week extension to see this effort play out.
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If no one is selected, the 22nd Knesset will automatically disperse, sending Israel down an unprecedented political rabbit hole.
Knesset Legal Counsel Eyal Yinon ruled last week that if Israelis are to go to the polls for the third time, they would do so on March 3, 2020.
Negotiating teams from the Likud and Blue and White were set to meet on Sunday to finalize details with respect to calling the third elections.
In a video message, Netanyahu urged the Knesset to consider pushing through a legislative amendment that would allow the public to vote only for the prime minister, a move likely to yield decisive results that would spare the country another prolonged political impasse.
"It's not yet too late, but if they [Blue and White] don't come to their sense and form a national unity government, there is one more thing that can be done to prevent unnecessary elections – to introduce a direct election for the prime minister between Benny Gantz and myself," the prime minister said. "Blue and White say they know what the people want, so I'm in favor of the people deciding and no one else."
A statement by Blue and White said that party "is engaged in preventing costly and unnecessary elections – not in hollow [media] spins aimed at reinstating an electoral system that severely undermined governability and failed miserably."
The statement was referring to the early 90s, when the so-called "two-ballot" system, which saw Israelis vote separately for a party and the prime minister, was implemented. Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, and Ariel Sharon were elected as prime ministers under this system before it was repealed in 2003, in favor of the current, one-ballot system.
Blue and White further said that Netanyahu's idea was a "hollow proposal" aimed at diverting attention from his legal troubles.
A recent Channel 12 News poll found that were elections held at this time, results would not differ greatly from the two previous rounds.
The poll predicted that Blue and White would see a razor-thin victory, winning 34 seats compared to Likud's 33. The Joint Arab List would win 13 seats, followed by Yisrael Beytenu, Shas and United Torah Judaism (8 seats each), the New Right (6), and Labor-Gesher and the Democratic Union (5 seats each).
The survey predicted that the national-religious Habayit Hayehudi and National Union parties, as well as the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, will not pass the 3.25% electoral threshold, which translates into four Knesset seats.
This would give the right-wing bloc 55 mandates and the left-wing bloc, including the Joint Arab List, 57 mandates. Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman's remains the deciding factor.
Asked who they believe is more suitable for the role of the prime minister, 39% of respondents named Netanyahu and 37% named Gantz. Moreover, 52% said they did not believe Netanyahu, now indicted for corruption, could remain prime minister, and 38% said he could remain in office.
Some 44% said they do not believe Netanyahu would uphold a premiership rotation agreement, compared to 37% who took him at his word.
The data prompted National Union leader Bezalel Smotrich to demand the national religious camp again unite under one faction, to ensure the smaller parties get into the Knesset.
