At odds: Netanyahu and Gantz
At odds: Netanyahu and Gantzצילום: דוברות הכנסת, תדמית הפקות

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to request a 48-hour extension for the appointment of a new Justice Minister ahead of the 6 PM Supreme Court hearing on the matter.

Netanyahu's lawyers insist that the vote in which it was decided to appoint Minister Ophir Akunis as Justice Minister was carried out lawfully, but note that Netanyahu is nevertheless interested in reaching agreements on the issue.

According to them, the court required the prime minister to hold a hearing in the government by Tuesday afternoon on the issue of appointing a justice minister. In accordance with this decision to hold a hearing on the appointment of a justice minister, the prime minister convened the government this morning. At the beginning of the debate, the prime minister suggested waiting 48 hours to reach an agreement, and the defense minister agreed.

The Prime Minister said that there were two options - to immediately authorize a minister to deal with the issue of detainees or in exchange to wait 48 hours to reach agreements on the appointment of a minister. At first, Ganz agreed to 48 hours. However, he later withdrew his support and demanded a vote on his candidacy for Justice Minister instead.

The Prime Minister agreed and raised the proposal for the appointment of Gantz. After the Cabinet voted against Gantz, Netanyahu raised the candidacy of Minister Akunis, who received the majority of votes.

However, Attorney General Mandelblit called the vote illegal since under the previous coalition agreement Gantz had to approve anyone appointed to be Justice Minister and he was opposed to Akunis' appointment.

The Cabinet Secretary and many ministers cited Article 15 of the Government Regulations, which stipulates that the Prime Minister may raise an issue that needs to be discussed, and he did so, making the vote legal.

Despite this, the prime minister asked the attorney general after the hearing to take the following position to the court: "Without detracting from the claim that the decision to appoint Minister Akunis was lawfully made in the government, the prime minister asks for another 48 hours to try to reach an agreement between the parties."