Rivlin Looks to the Knesset for a Prime Minister (AUDIO INTERVIEW)

The Media Line speaks with political scientist Yonatan Freeman, who says it’s to keep up the pressure on two Benjamins

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has turned to the Knesset, the country’s parliament, to come up with a prime minister-designate who can form a viable ruling coalition. He made the move after centrist leader Benny Gantz, whom he had entrusted with the mandate to form a government, failed.

Unable to form a Center-Left government, Gantz then moved into negotiations with right-wing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to establish a unity government, or, as the two have called it, an emergency government in light of the coronavirus pandemic. This, too, failed to gel.

Netanyahu is facing a corruption trial and badly wants to remain prime minister. Gantz, too, is under pressure, presiding over a much-diminished party owing to his willingness to break a campaign promise and join with Netanyahu. It is this pressure, according to Dr. Yonatan Freeman, a political scientist with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, that Rivlin is keeping in mind as he shifts his gaze to the Knesset.