The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced this Wednesday the formation of an emergency government together with Beny Gantz, opposition leader, former Minister of Defense and former Chief of the Army Staff, to confront the war against the Palestinian militias of Loop. “Both agreed on the establishment of an emergency government and a war management cabinet,” reported a joint statement signed by both leaders.
According to the prime minister's office, a “war management cabinet” will be established with three members: Netanyahu himself, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Gantz. Ron Dermer, Minister of Strategic Affairs, and Gadi Eizenkot, former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, will be observers.
During the period of war, no bills or government decisions that do not concern the conduct of the war will be promoted and all appointments to high positions will be automatically extended during this period.
On the other hand, the Ministry of the Interior has announced that it is indefinitely postponing the municipal elections scheduled for October 31 due to the war. The last time an election in Israel was delayed was during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
The Israeli prime minister and Gantz - who leads the center-right National Unity formation - met at the Army headquarters in Tel Aviv to “finalize the details” on how this emergency Executive would work, after other similar meetings since it began. the war on Saturday.
Gantz was Netanyahu's government partner in the past, but his internal disputes caused the coalition government that both had agreed upon in December 2020 to fall, when the centrist leader switched to the anti-Netanyahu camp that managed to unseat him from power in June 2021.
After the last elections in November last year, Gantz remained on the anti-Netanyahu side and refused to join his government coalition. In the midst of the controversy caused by the judicial reform promoted by Netanyahu's far-right government, Gantz has established himself as the political figure who garners the most popular support in almost all surveys.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu achieved the support of his coalition partners, far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, to integrate Gantz into this government. According to Israeli media, Gantz had demanded the creation of a war cabinet, but Netanyahu had insisted that he had the final say.
