The leaders of the Blue and White party, Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, Moshe Ya'alon, and Gabi Ashkenazi,met Thursday afternoon for an urgent discussion ahead of the debate on the election of the Knesset Speaker, which is expected to begin at 4 PM.
As part of the discussion, it became clear that Chairman Benny Gantz has not given up his intention to be appointed Knesset Speaker, in an attempt not to hamper efforts to establish a unity government.
On the other hand, MKs Yair Lapid and Ya'alon have made it clear that they are opposed to the move and want Meir Cohen to be elected to this term as originally planned.
The meeting was ended without agreement. Afterwards, Gantz submitted his candidacy for the position of Knesset Speaker.
Gantz's associates made it clear that if Yair Lapid submits Meir Cohen's candidacy, the Blue and White faction would fall apart.
Earlier, it became clear that there is widespread opposition within the left-wing and Arab blocs to Gantz's candidacy for Knesset Speaker.
MK Ahmad Tibi (Joint List) announced that his party would oppose the initiative to appoint Benny Gantz as Speaker of the Knesset with the aim of saving the negotiations to form a unity government.
"The Joint List will vote against Benny Gantz if he is a candidate for Knesset Speaker, we will vote for Meir Cohen. We are not part of the efforts to establish a unity government where the Likud leads the Blue and White by the nose,” Tibi said.
Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh tweeted: "The government cannot be handed to Netanyahu. Blue and White will decide whether they want to win together or submit alone."
MK Tamar Zandberg of Meretz said, "We did not grant Gantz the mandate to negotiate with the Likud, nor to be the Knesset Speaker. He should withdraw [his candidacy]. If he decides to run for Knesset Speaker, I will vote against him."