Blue and White told the Likud on Motzei Rosh Hashanah on Tuesday evening that they are canceling the scheduled meeting on Wednesday of the two parties’ negotiation teams since “at this stage, the minimum conditions for holding another effective meeting of the negotiation teams have not been met.”

Blue and White added that “naturally, under these circumstances, there is no point in a meeting being held between the party chairmen, Benny Gantz and Binyamin Netanyahu.”

The Likud responded by announcing that they are “shocked by Blue and White’s decision to blow up the negotiations between the two teams,” blaming the blocked negotiations on Blue and White #2 – Yair Lapid.

“Blue and White decided to end the negotiations for unity and go to elections – all because Yair Lapid is not ready to agree to a rotation [for prime minister] between Netanyahu and Gantz but only to a rotation between him and Gantz,” the Likud statement said. “Prime Minister Netanyahu calls to Benny Gantz again to show responsibility, to prevent elections and meet with him [on Wednesday] as planned.”

Likud has called for Blue and White to accept President Reuven Rivlin’s framework of a unity government between Likud and Blue and White with a rotation between Netanyahu and Gantz for prime minister. The framework includes a provision that if Netanyahu must take a leave of absence due to his criminal charges, Gantz would serve as “interim prime minister” – in essence, as prime minister.

However, the two parties failed to reach an agreement on who would serve as prime minister first in the rotation agreement. Additionally, Blue and White representatives refuse to agree to Likud’s stipulation that it is negotiating as one united bloc with its right-wing religious allies.

In light of the canceled meeting, it is likely that Netanyahu will return the mandate to form a coalition to Rivlin as early as Wednesday.

Wednesday is also the first day of Netanyahu’s pre-indictment hearings on the criminal charges he is facing. Netanyahu himself will not be present at the hearings, at which his lawyers will try to convince Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit not to indict the prime minister for bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)