Netanyahu said mulling temporary coalition to nullify current power-sharing government

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting Religious Zionism party chief Bezalel Smotrich to try and persuade him to accept a coalition propped up by the Islamist Ra’am party, which he staunchly opposes.

Channel 12 news says one option Netanyahu is weighing is trying to convince Smotrich and Ra’am to come together just for one vote: Forming a coalition which will then immediately fall and the country will go to its fifth elections in 2.5 years.

That would nullify the current coalition agreement, which gives Benny Gantz’s Blue and White and his bloc 50% control over the government and a veto over critical matters. Perhaps even more significantly, it would remove the threat of Gantz replacing Netanyahu as prime minister on November 17, which will happen automatically if no new coalition is formed by then.