Though elections averted, Blue and White and Likud still at each other’s throats

The two main coalition parties, Blue and White and Likud, continue to snipe at each other, despite an agreement earlier this week that thwarted the dissolution of the so-called unity government and averted elections — at least until December.

Blue and White’s Benny Gantz, in a briefing with ultra-Orthodox reporters, was asked whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dividing Israel. Gantz said yes, and expressed hope that “he will stop.”

In a statement, a Likud official hits back, saying: “The State of Israel needs a functioning unity government that works on its behalf. The daily recriminations of Blue and White against Prime Minister Netanyahu and Likud are not helping. We urge them to stop trying to build a ‘government within a government’ and to unify and work together on behalf of the people of Israel.”