Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett met Wednesday morning with the chief of the United Arab List (Ra’am) faction, just days before the expiration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mandate to form a new government.
Bennett met with MK Mansour Abbas, chairman of the UAL, in Bennett’s Knesset office Wednesday, according to the Yamina party.
The two discussed the two parties amid the current political situation,” Bennett’s office said in a statement. “They had a good meeting.”
The meeting comes as Netanyahu’s mandate from President Reuven Rivlin to form a new government enters its final week.
Should Netanyahu fail to form a new government by the end of the four-week deadline, President Rivlin is expected to entrust either Yesh Atid chief Yair Lapid or Bennett with the mandate.
While Rivlin had initially favored sending the mandate directly to the Knesset, giving the legislature a deadline to elected a new premier or face dissolution and new elections, after consultations with Knesset faction leaders, the president now is said to be leaning towards nominating either Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett or Opposition Leader and Yesh Atid chief Yair Lapid.
Should Bennett receive the mandate, he is expected to try to form a government with Yesh Atid, New Hope, Labor, Meretz, Yisrael Beytenu, and the United Arab List (Ra’am), for a total of 62 seats.
An official cited in the report said that Bennett has made significant progress in negotiations with Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid regarding a possible alternative government, though some disputes remain regarding the distribution of several key ministerial positions.