With less than 10 days to go, Blue and White leader informed President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday that he might need a 14-day extension to form a government due to complications in the coalition talks with Likud, despite optimism on both sides.
Gantz was tapped by Rivlin last month to form a government after a majority of Knesset members recommended him, despite Likud and its ideological allies emerging stronger than Gantz's bloc following the March 2 election.
He then decided to take the unusual step and form a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with each serving two years as prime minister. Netanyahu and Gantz instructed their respective negotiators to complete a draft of the agreement before Passover this week.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
However, the final details of the talks remain at an impasse over a variety of issues, and chiefly among them the annexation of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, which was one of Netanyahu's key election pledges.
A senior Likud official said that this issue was a dealbreaker and that Netanyahu has worked tirelessly with the Trump administration to make it happen over the past three years.
According to a Channel 13 News report on Saturday, Gantz is ready to accept a limited annexation of territory in Judea and Samaria.
The report said that Gantz may be willing to accept the annexation of settlement blocs west of Israel's security barrier as a part of a peace initiative in full coordination with the Defense Ministry, which he will lead under a unity agreement. Such efforts would begin only after the coronavirus threat has ended, according to the report.
According to the report, Gantz is sticking to his opposition to annexing the Jordan Valley, over worries that it could jeopardize the Israel-Jordan peace agreement.
Parts of this article were reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
