Likud leaking to media that it’s in talks to form an alternative coalition to avoid elections

Likud sources are leaking to several Hebrew media outlets that the party is seeking to form an alternative coalition within the current Knesset before the coalition manages to disperse parliament and initiate snap elections.

The Ynet news site quotes one of those “sources” who says that the party is aiming to convince Defense Minister Benny Gantz to jump ship and join them.

Gantz broke countless election promises by agreeing to form a coalition led by Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu in 2020. Netanyahu collapsed that government after less than a year in order to prevent Gantz from replacing him as premier in their agreed-upon rotation.

The Likud source tells Ynet that in order to build trust with Gantz, Netanyahu is willing to allow the Blue and White chairman to serve first as prime minister in a rotation deal.

Blue and White responds to the report by dismissing it entirely as a politically-motivated hit aimed at delegitimizing Gantz.

“There are no contacts [with Likud], no discussions, nor is there anything to talk about,” Blue and White tweets.