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JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief rival said Monday that he has agreed with a smaller party to work together to form a new government following national elections last week. The announcement by Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White Party, dealt a new setback to Netanyahu as he struggles to hold on to power ahead of his upcoming trial on corruption charges. In a statement, Gantz said that he had a good meeting with Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the small Yisrael Beitenu party. “We discussed questions of fundamental principle and determined that we will work together to...

Center-left candidate Benny Gantz declares victory over Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israeli elections, and is rejecting the prime minister’s call for negotiations over leading the government. Gantz issued a statement Thursday saying, “I am interested in and intend to form a broad and liberal unity government under my leadership.” He also said, “the process of building a government has begun, and we will not be dictated to.” This comes after Netanyahu offered to build a broad coalition government with Gantz amid a tight election. Netanyahu proposed a rotating premiership among the two leaders. “The people chose unity, the people want...

Unless he convinces Israeli lawmakers from outside his party to join him in a national unity government, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 10-and-a-half-year run in office may soon end following inconclusive results inhis country’s parliamentary elections this week that appeared to deprive him of a governing majority in the Knesset. President Donald Trump took a hands-off approach when asked about the elections in America’s foremost ally in the Middle East. “Our relations are with Israel, so we’ll see what happens,” he told reporters while touring California. In Israel, Netanyahu has leveraged his ideological affinity with Trump as a selling point...

Apr. 12, 2006 1:25 | Updated Apr. 12, 2006 5:14 Kadima to give Labor draft deal By GIL HOFFMAN Kadima representatives will present Labor's negotiating team with a rough draft for a coalition agreement on Wednesday after both sides reported progress in negotiations at Ramat Gan's Kfar Hamacabiah Hotel on Tuesday night. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with Kadima ministers on Tuesday and told them that he wanted the coalition-building process completed by the end of the month. Members of Kadima's team said negotiations over the coalition guidelines would be completed by the end of the holiday, allowing for...

Apr. 8, 2006 19:14 | Updated Apr. 9, 2006 1:06 Lieberman mulls joining coalition By JPOST.COM STAFFIsrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman Photo: Ariel JerozolimskiThe price of Israel Beiteinu's entry into the coalition is the Internal Security portfolio, Avigdor Lieberman told Channel 2 on Saturday night. "We won't give up on the Internal Security portfolio. We ran on this point in the elections, we received the voters trust and we have no intention of violating that trust," he said. Calling himself a member of the "pragmatic right" rather then the "fanatic right," Lieberman said he believed his party would enter the...

Apr. 5, 2006 14:39 | Updated Apr. 5, 2006 19:08 Acting PM Olmert: 'Elections became a referendum' By JPOST.COM STAFF The election vote was in fact a national referendum on the diplomatic issues that face Israel today, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday during a meeting of the Kadima Knesset faction. "Fortunately, the election campaign became, with the consent of all parties, a referendum," Olmert said. The Kadima leader estimated that coalition talks wound end by the end of April or the beginning of May. "I will make every effort to conclude coalition negotiations as soon as possible," he...