Joint List to recommend Gantz as prime minister

The predominantly Arab Joint List says it will recommend Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz to form the next government, Hebrew media reports.

Representatives of the Joint List, which won 13 seats in last Tuesday’s election, are scheduled to meet President Rivlin in the next few minutes to give him their recommendation. The Joint List is an alliance of four predominantly Arab parties; one of them, Balad, has opposed endorsing Gantz and, some reports say, may not send a representative to the talks with Rivlin.

If the Join List indeed backs Gantz, he would likely wind up with 57 MKs recommending him as prime minister, to 55 backing incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu. Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu, which has eight seats and is not expected to recommend a candidate, would hold the balance of power between the blocs. Liberman is pushing for a “liberal, national, broad” unity government including both Likud and Blue and White.