JERUSALEM — Yair Lapid, a former news anchor and leader of Israel's centrist opposition, was picked to negotiate a new governing coalition Wednesday, opening the possibility of Israel getting its first government not led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in more than a decade.
President Reuven Rivlin tapped Lapid to make the next attempt to form a government one day after Netanyahu failed to assemble a parliamentary majority after 28 days of effort. Under Israel’s system, Lapid also has four weeks to craft a power-sharing plan. If he falls short, the president could open to the process to any member of the Knesset or call for Israel’s fifth election since the spring of 2019.
Lapid will face a stiff challenge in trying to find common ground among the range of anti-Netanyahu parties elected in March. As a bloc, they would control enough seats to secure a majority. But ideologically, they range from the far right to the far left of Israel’s political spectrum. They also include Israeli Arab parties that traditionally play no part in supporting governing coalitions but that may be needed this time.
JERUSALEM — Yair Lapid, a former news anchor and leader of Israel's
centrist opposition, was picked to negotiate a new governing coalition
Wednesday, opening the possibility of Israel getting its first government
not led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in more than a decade.
President Reuven Rivlin tapped Lapid to make the next attempt to form a
government one day after Netanyahu failed to assemble a parliamentary
majority after 28 days of effort. Under Israel’s system, Lapid also has
four weeks to craft a power-sharing plan. If he falls short, the president
could open to the process to any member of the Knesset or call for Israel’s fifth election since the spring of 2019.
Lapid will face a stiff challenge in trying to find common ground among the range of anti-Netanyahu parties elected in March. As a bloc, they would
control enough seats to secure a majority. But ideologically, they range
from the far right to the far left of Israel’s political spectrum. They
also include Israeli Arab parties that traditionally play no part in
supporting governing coalitions but that may be needed this time.