As deadline nears, Netanyahu appeals to Bennett: ‘Prove you’re still a man of the right’

With no apparent options for forming a government and with his mandate to put together a ruling majority due to expire at midnight, Prime Minister Netanyahu makes yet another appeal to Yamina chief Naftali Bennett not to assemble a unity government with the premier’s rivals.

“Naftali, prove you’re still a man of the right,” Netanyahu writes on Twitter.

The tweet is accompanied by a short video clip of Bennett saying he won’t agree to a government in which Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid would be prime minister, “because I’m a right-winger, this goes against my values and to me, values have meaning.”

Bennett has been holding talks with Lapid on forming a unity government in which the Yamina leader would first be prime minister, followed by the Yesh Atid chief.