A growing coalition crisis between Likud and Blue & White peaked on Sunday morning when the scheduled cabinet meeting on Sunday morning was canceled for the first time in years.
The crisis began with Likud’s insistence on establishing a one-year budget rather than the two-year budget agreed on in the Likud/Blue and White coalition agreement. Likud says that due to the coronavirus crisis, it’s impossible to make a two-year budget since it’s yet unknown how the coronavirus will affect the economy over such a long period.
Blue and White want to stick to the coalition agreement, fearing that Netanyahu is aiming to dissolve the government before Gantz gets his chance to serve as prime minister.
“In order to stabilize the government, a 2020-2021 plan is needed,” Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz told Channel 12 News on Motzei Shabbos. ” Not a holiday budget or a weekend budget, but a budget for an entire year. The best economists say the same thing and that’s why we’re insisting on it…I won’t concede on this.”
Gantz said he’s not interested in elections but maybe Netanyahu and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid are interested.
“Maybe the prime minister wants elections, maybe Lapid wants, but I don’t,” Gantz said.
Both parties announced the meeting’s cancellation, with each blaming the other for the decision. Likud attacked Blue and White for harming the public since the cabinet was set to vote on a NIS 8.5 billion ($2.5 billion) coronavirus financial aid plan for Israeli citizens proposed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yisrael Katz at the cabinet meeting on Sunday.
“The cabinet meeting will not convene tomorrow due to Blue and White’s refusal to put a government financial aid plan by the prime minister and finance minister on the agenda,” Likud stated.
“The plan will create about 10,000 new jobs to improve the economy. Likud demands that Blue and White refrain from thwarting the transfer of funds to the citizens of Israel at this time, when it is dealing with the coronavirus crisis.”
Blue and White responded that the meeting was canceled due to “due to Likud’s insistence on not adhering to the coalition agreement. This is not the first time Likud has not stood by its commitments, and every other excuse is a complete lie to the Israeli public.”
If a national budget is not passed by August 25, the government will be dissolved and new elections will be called.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
It’s a hard sell for Blue and White.
They basically did not sign agreement on a bill that would HELP thousands/millions of people in these trying times just because they want to ensure their POLITICAL position for next year.
Hmm 🤔 talk about putting yourself before the country.
I don’t know enough to have an informed opinion about this issue, but I no longer trust Netanyahu. It is plausible that Netanyahu wants to scuttle Gantz’ term as prime minister.
why don’t they make a pshoro? 18 months! (Maybe even 12 months is too far ahead in these times and 1 year was already a compromise…..)
Either way, i pesronally trust Bibi more than ever, which western country did as well as Israel battling corona… The US, the UK? (Switzerland was not bad…..)
Gantz is far worse than Netanyahu.
the thing is netanyahu obviously is gaming to cheat gantz out of his turn as prime minister, this is not a surprise at all everyone fully expected him to try it , that is why Gantz insisted on so many safeguards to ensure he gets his turn. In any case i think netanyahu actually has a legitimate argument here that its absurd to pass a two year budget because we have no idea what it will be like in just a few months from now so making a budget for the second year is literally making a budget blindly which is absurd. (the only solution is some trick to allow the budget to be created later without risking giving Netanyahu a chance to dissolve the coalition: for example passing the 2nd years budget in a few months OR and i wonder why noone is suggesting this that they pass a two year budget but make it so they can and will change the second years budget this way there is no risk of the government falling due to not passing a second year budget since technically one was already passed but they also can make a new budget lter once they know what is going on.