Netanyahu, Gantz meeting as coalition deadline draws near

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz are meeting in a last ditch effort to reach a unity government.

The talks follows a series of meeting amid multiple reports that Likud and Blue and White were having serious negotiations for the first time since the September elections amid intense efforts to form a unity government.

The parties are reportedly discussing a last-minute deal to form a government based on President Reuven Rivlin’s unity proposal — which entails a power-sharing agreement whereby Netanyahu would take a leave of absence if indicted for corruption and be replaced by Gantz as prime minister — subject to some changes.

The centrist leader was tasked with cobbling together a coalition after Netanyahu failed to do so in the wake of the September elections.