28 Mar 2020; MEMO: Head of Israel Resilience Party (Hosen L’Yisrael) Benny Gantz is concerned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not commit to the “rotation deal”, Arab48.com reported on Friday.
In a shocking move, Gantz, who was tapped by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to form the government, was elected on Thursday as speaker of the Knesset with 74 votes.
This revealed a “rotation deal” between Gantz and Netanyahu, which moved the former from the left-wing camp to the right wing, cheating his voters.
Speaking to the Israeli General Radio, Alon Shostair from Hosem L’Yisrael disclosed: “I hope that Netanyahu will commit to his pledge regarding the rotation deal. I am not sure that this will happen.”
Regarding his movement from the left-wing to the right-wing camp, Gantz announced: “Israel is facing a growing number of [coronavirus] infections and the number of victims is rising daily.”
As he was speaking with the Knesset on Thursday, Gantz was reported by Al Jazeera as confirming that he intended to advance towards a unity government, and that he has opted to put himself up for the speaker’s office to promote a deal.
“These are unusual times and they call for unusual decisions,” he affirmed. “That is why I intend to explore the formation of an emergency unity government.”
On Twitter, Gantz thanked his previous partners in Blue and White Party, Yair Lapid and Moshe Yaalon. He explained that he left the coalition party because he did not want Israel to go to a fourth election amidst the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Gantz has previously ruled out serving with Netanyahu, whom he accused of being a corrupt prime minister, as Netanyahu has being charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
