Israel's Netanyahu, Gantz agree to start negotiations for possible unity government

During a meeting on Monday, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin convinced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his leading opponent, Benny Gantz, to try to form a unity government.

Their negotiating teams will start talking on Tuesday. During last week's election, Netanyahu's conservative Likud party won 31 seats in Parliament, while Gantz's centrist Blue and White party won 33, leaving both without enough support to form a majority coalition. Rivlin said in a statement that "people expect" Netanyahu and Gantz to "find a solution and to prevent further elections, even if it comes at a personal and even ideological cost. A shared and equal government is possible. It can and it must express the different voices in society."

The final election results will be sent to Rivlin on Wednesday, and he will have seven days to pick a candidate to try to form a government and become prime minister. One possible solution would be for Netanyahu and Gantz to rotate who serves as prime minister, but Avigdor Liberman, leader of the secular nationalist Yisrael Beytenu party, said on Monday the "entire conflict at the moment revolves around who will serve first as prime minister and who will serve second."

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That's not the only challenge facing Netanyahu and Gantz. Netanyahu could soon be indicted on corruption charges related to three separate cases, and Gantz has said he won't join a coalition with Netanyahu as long as he's still embroiled in those scandals, The New York Times reports. Gantz also wants a secular coalition, and does not want to work with the ultra-Orthodox parties. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has told his ultra-Orthodox and right-wing coalition partners he won't drop their alliance.