Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz have agreed to meet again on Wednesday to continue talks to form a unity government.
The party leaders met Monday evening with President Reuven Rivlin after neither candidate received enough recommendations to form a governing coalition. The meeting lasted for two hours.
President Rivlin said following the meeting: "We have taken a significant step forward tonight, and now the first challenge is to establish a channel of direct communication between the sides."
Rivlin stressed that the ongoing existence of ajn interim government in place of a stable elected government was harmful to the State. He also told the two that “the people expect you to find a solution and to prevent further elections, even if it comes at a personal and even ideological cost. This is not the time to exclude people.”
Netanyahu and Gantz continued their discussion after Rivlin had left the meeting.