Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz on the brink of a deal, but key differences remain

Benjamin Netanyahu was on the brink of finally swearing in his new cabinet on the eve of Pesach, but disagreements on judicial appointments were proving to be a last-minute hurdle.

Despite the delay, Benny Gantz’s half of Blue & White and Amir Peretz’s sliver of what was once the Labour Party are resigned to joining the new government. Naftali Bennett’s Yamina, until now a member of the Netanyahu coalition, may find itself in opposition. 

Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz, one-time rivals who are now about to be partners, held two lengthy meetings in the prime minister’s residence, one over the weekend and the second on Monday morning. They reached a series of breakthroughs despite being restricted from talking face-to-face due to Mr Netanyahu’s self-quarantine, who has been in contact with Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, who has the coronavirus.

The two main sticking points were the future of the annexation of parts of the West Bank, as envisaged in US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, and the question of who controls appointments in the legal establishment. 

Their agreement was to give Blue & White control of the Justice Ministry and the Judicial Appointments Committee, allowing Mr Gantz to claim he can ensure Mr Netanyahu does not avoid turning up for his trial for bribery and fraud, currently scheduled to start at the end of May.

At the same time, despite his demand that the government put any annexation plans on hold for the next six months, right-wing pressure on Mr Netanyahu has led Mr Gantz to agree the government should begin considering annexation in mid-June.

The prime minister has committed to presenting the annexation plan to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, where there is expected to be a majority in favour, but to take any steps only with the approval of the US administration and in coordination with Egypt and Jordan, the Arab states with which Israel has diplomatic relations. 

These agreements have come under intense criticism both from the centre-left opposition and within Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc, where there is concern that Mr Trump will lose the presidential election in November and the “window of opportunity” for annexation will close.

There is also anger over the concessions on the judicial appointments, as they will stymie attempts to appoint more conservative judges to the Supreme Court. This criticism may lead Yamina, Likud’s right-wing partner, to leave the government and return to opposition.

The party’s leaders are angry at having to do with fewer senior ministries — it currently controls the defence, education and transport ministries — and Defence Minister Naftali Bennett, who would have to relinquish his portfolio to Mr Gantz, may decide that it would make political sense for him to serve as a right-wing leadership alternative to Mr Netanyahu. 

One party probably joining in the coalition is Labour, whose leader Amir Peretz is expected to be appointed business minister. On Monday, he announced with Mr Gantz that they were discussing a merger of the two parties at the parliamentary level.

Labour has currently only three Knesset members, one of whom, Itzik Shmuli, supports the move and is expected to be appointed social-affairs minister; the other, Merav Michaeli, insists on remaining in opposition.

Mr Peretz also announced that he was splitting the parliamentary partnership with Meretz, “with a divided soul. We no longer see the best way to serve the nation in the same way.”