Gantz, Lapid accuse Netanyahu of stalling coalition talks

Gantz says his meeting with Netanyahu yesterday did not yield any “tangible progress.”

“The ruling party does not want to hold a practical discussion about policy guidelines,” he tells a faction meeting of his Blue and White party in the Knesset.

“We will continue to talk to everyone and listen to the small parties, and we will not let them dictate the entire public agenda,” he adds.

Gantz’s number 2, Yair Lapid, steps up the rhetoric against Netanyahu and his Likud party, accusing the prime minister of posturing when he still had the mandate to try to form a government.

“I’ll tell you the difference between the 28 days Netanyahu had and our 28 days,” he says. “Netanyahu didn’t try to form a government; we are trying everything. I know what negotiations to form a government look like. I saw Netanyahu, I was in the room with him, when he wanted to form a government.

“He knows how to get it done. That’s not the situation here. Not this time. He didn’t put a single proposal on the table.”

Lapid goes on to accuse the prime minister, who is facing a pending indictment in three corruption cases, of seeking to impose an unprecedented third election on Israelis in under a year.

“Netanyahu used his 28 days for one purpose only – to push us toward elections,” he says. “He wants elections. It’s what his lawyers recommended. It’s what he needs because of his indictments.”