Tagged Blue and White party

Netanyahu and Liberman will meet to discuss unity government

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Liberman, who prevented Netanyahu from forming a coalition government following elections in April, will meet to discuss a unity government. The meeting, confirmed by Liberman in a social media post, is scheduled for Thursday morning in Jerusalem. Liberman said even… Read more »

Netanyahu nominated to form Israel’s government

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will get his second try this year to form Israel’s government after talks aimed at creating a unity government broke down. President Reuven Rivlin tasked Netanyahu with forming a government on Wednesday evening even though his Likud party did not finish first… Read more »

Arab parties recommend Benny Gantz to form the next government

Members of the Joint List arrive for a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on Sept. 22, 2019, where they said they would support Blue and White head Benny Gantz for prime minister. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Arab Joint List recommended to Israel’s president that Blue and White head Benny Gantz be tapped to form the next government in order to end the political career of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Ayman Odeh, who heads the coalition of four Arab parties, explained its… Read more »

Netanyahu and Gantz agree to hold negotiations for a unity government

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz have agreed to hold negotiations to form a unity government. The heads, respectively, of the Likud and Blue and White parties announced the negotiations late Monday night following a two-hour meeting at the Jerusalem residence of President Reuven Rivlin.… Read more »

The first exit polls for Israel’s Election Day are in. It’s close.

Blue and White party chairman Benny Gantz casts his ballot at a voting station in Rosh Haayin, Israel, on Election Day, Sept. 17, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and the Blue and White were again locked in a virtual dead heat at the close of voting in Israel, exit polls on Tuesday showed. Both Blue and White, which is led by Benny Gantz, a former military chief of… Read more »

Here we go again: A beginner’s guide to Israel’s 2nd election in 2019

From left to right: Avigdor Liberman, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ayelet Shaked, Ayman Odeh and Benny Gantz are all major players in the upcoming Israeli election. (Getty Images/JTA Photo Montage)

(JTA) — Trying to understand next week’s Israeli elections can get confusing. Especially since we’re talking about the second election in one year. Longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is mired in a series of corruption scandals and again facing a serious challenge from former military chief of staff Benny… Read more »

Netanyahu says he will annex part of the West Bank if re-elected

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces that if he is re-elected, he will make the Jordan Valley a sovereign part of Israel, Sept. 10, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that if he is re-elected, he will immediately annex the Jordan Valley. Netanyahu also promised to annex West Bank Jewish settlements in what he termed a “dramatic announcement” exactly one week before Israelis go to the polls for national… Read more »

Netanyahu officially tasked with forming Israel’s next government

JERUSALEM (JTA) — President Reuven Rivlin has officially tasked Benjamin Netanyahu, the current prime minister, with forming Israel’s next government. Rivlin met Wednesday evening with Netanyahu at the president’s residence in Jerusalem hours after receiving the official results of last week’s national elections. Party leaders representing 65 of the 120… Read more »

Blue and White co-leaders concede defeat in Israel’s elections

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The leaders of the Blue and White party conceded defeat to Likud and said they would keep their coalition together in preparation for the next election. Party co-leader Yair Lapid, who brought his Yesh Atid into Blue and White, said in a speech Wednesday night that his… Read more »

9 takeaways from Israel’s historic election

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu greets supporters at his victory speech in Tel Aviv, April 10, 2019. (Amir Levy/Getty Images)

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israel’s election on Tuesday was contentious, historic, crazy — and somewhat predictable. With most of the vote counted — some 300,000 votes from soldiers, diplomats and other Israeli officials working abroad have yet to be tallied — Benjamin Netanyahu seems poised to become the longest-serving prime… Read more »