Israel: Netanyahu Asks For Extension To Form Coalition Government

By i24
Posted on 12/08/22 | News Source: i24

his request must be justified and the delay is not granted automatically

Israel’s incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday for a 14-day extension to form the coalition government, as the deadline expires on December 11.

This is the maximum statutory extension that can be claimed in these circumstances. However, the request for additional time must be justified and is not granted automatically by the president.

While Netanyahu managed to sign agreements on the distribution of portfolios with all the allied parties making up the bloc that won the last elections, he still has to pass a reform that would allow Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, to take a ministerial position, despite his suspended sentence for tax evasion. However, the vote can only be put on the parliament's agenda if the speaker of parliament comes from the new majority.

Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu succeeded in gathering a majority of 61 deputies in favor of a vote to appoint a replacement for the current parliament speaker Mickey Levy from outgoing prime minister Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party. Levy in turn announced that the vote would take place on Monday, a timing that does not allow the prime-minister designate to present his government before the deadline.