Binyamin Netanyahu
Binyamin NetanyahuOlivier Fitoussi/Flash 90

Sources in Blue and White are calling for reconsideration of the party's insistence on a two-year budget, and are proposing to compromise on the budget after concluding that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wants an election, Channel 12 News reported on Sunday.

Blue and White is reportedly considering allowing Netanyahu to approve a one-year budget as per his wishes, so that Netanyahu does not claim that he had to disband the coalition because of Benny Gantz’s insistence on a two-year budget.

According to Channel 12 News, senior officials in the Likud also estimate that Netanyahu is interested in dissolving the partnership. It is possible that Netanyahu will try to form an alternative coalition with Zvi Hauser (Derech Eretz) and other Knesset members.

Under the coalition agreement, neither Netanyahu nor Gantz can bring down the government by casting a vote of no confidence and then serving as Prime Minister of the new government. Therefore, a creative solution has been found - the Likud is considering appointing Minister Aryeh Deri or Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin as temporary candidates for Prime Minister, the government will then fall, re-emerge and a vote of non-confidence will be held a week later, following which it will be possible to nominate Netanyahu as Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister's Office denied these reports outright.

MK Hauser responded on Twitter, "Anyone who thinks that it will be possible to deal in the winter with the coronavirus, flu and to take Israel to elections on top of it all - does not understand what we are facing. The wave we are facing now is minor compared to the one that is expected to come. Only a unity government can handle the task. Political certainty must be created and a budget approved as quickly as possible."