Levy-Abekasis calls for Netanyahu to be tasked with forming government, joins right-wing bloc

Gesher MK Orly Levy-Abekasis calls for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be tasked with forming a government and includes herself in the premier’s bloc of right-wing religious parties.

Levy-Abekasis broke off last month from the now defunct Labor-Gesher-Meretz alliance, citing her opposition to a potential government led by Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz that was supported by the predominantly Arab Joint List.

She initially refrained from recommending either Netanyahu or Gantz to form the next government. Gantz was ultimately tasked by President Reuven Rivlin with doing so and yesterday asked for a two-week extension to assemble a government amid stalled coalition talks with Netanyahu’s Likud.

“Gantz’s request to the president of the state for an extension of the mandate is an announcement of his lack of ability to form a government,” Levy-Abekasis writes in a Facebook post.

She cites three reasons for why Netanyahu should now receive the mandate to form a coalition: Likud is the largest party in the Knesset; the prime minister’s bloc is the largest with 59 seats; and the transition government is continuing to function and not come apart.

The parties that make up Netanyahu’s bloc — Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism and Yamina — together have 58 seats, with Levy-Abekasis apparently including herself as the 59th.