Israel’s prime-minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu asked late on Thursday for a two-week extension in forming a coalition government with his ultra-Orthodox and extreme-right allies, days before the initial timeframe elapses.
The November 1 election put the former prime minister in a position to form a stable, right-wing government, ending an unprecedented period of political deadlock that forced five elections in fewer than four years.
President Isaac Herzog on November 13 tapped Mr Netanyahu to form a government with the backing of factions representing 64 out of 120 members in Israel’s parliament.
Mr Netanyahu’s 28-day mandate expires at midnight on Sunday, but late on Thursday he asked Mr Herzog for more time to finalise deals with two parties.
“We are in the midst of negotiations and have made much progress, but judging by the pace of things, I will need all the extension days provided by law in order to form a government,” he said in a letter released by his office.
By law, the president can grant up to 14 additional days for negotiations. Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party has already signed coalition deals with three extreme-right parties – Religious Zionism, Jewish Power and the anti-LGBTQ one-man Noam. Likud announced early on Thursday a deal with a fourth party, Shas, that gave the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party five ministerial positions. But the agreement with Shas and another ultra-Orthodox bloc, United Torah Judaism, are provisional, not binding coalition agreements.
Read the article in The Australian.