Israel's political leaders are scheduled to meet individually with President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem on Monday, when each will recommend to the president who they believe should be tasked with forming the next government.
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Rivlin, who seeks to facilitate an expedient coalition-building process in an effort to prevent Israel from plunging into its fifth election campaign in two years, had decided to break with protocol, by which his meetings with the party heads stretch across several days, and plans to meet with all party heads on Monday.
Sources at the Presidency said Rivlin is well aware of the ongoing political embroilment and seeks to gain clear insight from each party leader as to who they support, so as to make a best decision for the country.
As protocol demands, the representatives of each party will arrive at the President's Residence in Jerusalem by order of the size of their faction in the Knesset. Each delegation will meet with Rivlin for 45 minutes, during which the officials will endorse a candidate and explain their reasoning to the president.
Ahead of the meeting with Rivlin, and with the political blocks seemingly deadlocked, Yamina leader Naftali Bennett – who could hold the key to the nature of the next coalition – met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday and with Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid on Saturday evening.
Yesh Atid released a statement following the meeting saying it "went well" and adding that Bennett and Lapid plan to meet again on Sunday.
The Prime Minister's Office described Bennett's meeting with Netanyahu "was good."
Ahead of his meeting with the prime minister, Bennett said, "We have one goal only – to form a solid government that takes care of the public, as soon as possible. We will spare no effort to achieve this result."
It, however, remains unclear whether Netanyahu has the ability to form a government even if Bennett joins him, as Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich announced Friday that his party would not join a coalition supported by Ra'am, even if only from outside the government.
The Israeli political system currently faces three potential outcomes:
The first: Yamina will endorse Netanyahu, in which case a minority government comprising 59 MKs will form. This coalition will include the Likud, Yamina, Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party Shas, Ashkenazi Haredi party United Torah Judaism, and the Religious Zionist Party, with the external endorsement of New Hope. This scenario will include a power-sharing deal between Netanyahu and Bennett, with the latter assuming office first.
The second: A Center-Right government will be formed, comprising 67 MKs from Yesh Atid, Yamina, New Hope, Yisrael Beytenu, Blue and White, Shas, United Torah Judaism and the Religious Zionist Party.
The third: A minority, Center-Left bloc government of 57 MKs will be formed, comprising Yesh Atid, Yamina, New Hope, Labor, Blue and White, Meretz, with the extremal support of Ra'am.
If these three options prove unfeasible, a fifth election will be called.
Meanwhile, the Islamist Ra'am party met on Saturday to discuss its potential endorsement of a candidate for prime minister, but the meeting was concluded sans a decision.
Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas, who following the elections emerged as wielding unusual political power, told journalists as things stood at the moment, "We are awaiting developments in the next few days."
In a televised address earlier this week, Abbas said he would likely make his final decision based on who is best able to assist the Arab Israeli community, describing the current moment as an opportunity to bring together Israelis from all sectors and backgrounds.
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Over the weekend, reports emerged of deep divisions within the conservative Islamist faction, caused by the possibility of expressing any sort of support not only for mainstream Jewish parties, but for the more radical elements in Netanyahu's potential coalition, namely the Religious Zionist Party and his partners, the far-right Otzma Yehudit party and Noam, a radical religious-Zionist party.
This prospect of somehow being linked with the has been described by certain Ra'am members as "beyond the pale."
The deep disagreement over the issue has apparently prompted several major Ra'am activists to leave a private WhatsApp group maintained by the party. the move was made on Thursday evening, following Abbas' called for better cooperation between Jewish and Arab Israelis, Channel 12 News reported.
The most prominent member to exit the private group is former MK Masoud Ghanaim.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
