The target date for the establishment of a unity government has been postponed until at least the second week of May, high-ranking political officials said Sunday.
One official warned that there were so many obstacles in the path of a new government that there was still a chance the process could fail and "Israel would have a fourth election."
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The discomforting prediction came after Blue and White failed on Sunday to oversee a meeting of a new Knesset committee charged with handling the transition of the government. Headed by MK Eitan Ginzburg of Blue and White, the committee has a very short timeframe in which to make complicated amendments to basic laws having to do with government operations and the prime minister. The MKs from Yesh Atid who sit on the committee managed to delay any progress on the legislation, causing senior Likud officials to worry.
The legislation must also be passed by the Knesset plenum. Ahead of debates in the plenum, the opposition has submitted a list of thousands of issues with the proposed version, which will likely take a number of days to address.
Moreover, the upper echelon of the Likud thinks that the High Court of Justice will not refrain from interfering with laws that the Knesset passes. Some expect the High Court to reject one of the laws in the coalition agreement between Blue and White and the Likud, which would bring down the entire deal. In addition, a full High Court panel is due to deliver an opinion on whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may serve while under criminal indictment, and could intervene in that matter, as well.
On Wednesday, May 6, marks the end of the 21-day period in which any MK can sign 61 of his or her parliamentary colleagues on a mandate for a specific candidate to form a government. To prevent a fourth election, at least 61 MKs must sign off on Netanyahu forming a government.
If the legislative processes currently underway are not completed by that date, or if they are held up in the High Court, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and his people will face a tough decision: signing a document that gives Netanyahu the mandate to form a government without a valid coalition agreement in place, or refusing to sign, prompting another election. It is also possible that they might give Netanyahu the mandate even though the High Court could wind up canceling parts of their coalition deal with the Likud.
It appears that the vote on the new laws will take place early Friday morning. Next week, the Transition Committee is scheduled to complete its discussion and only in the middle of next week will the bills be presented for second and third readings in the plenum. Next Thursday, May 7, Netanyahu is expected to receive the mandate to form a government, but he does not intend to move ahead until he has a green light from the High Court. Senior political officials think that if he gets approval from the court, a unity government will be in place on or around May 13.
