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‘Significant progress’ reported after 2 hours of Netanyahu-Gantz talks

24 September 2019 07:04 (UTC +04:00)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White alliance leader Benny Gantz made “significant strides” toward creating a unity government, the president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, announced Monday after a two-hour meeting between the three politicians, APA reports quoting sputniknews.

According to The Jerusalem Post report, Netanyahu and Gantz, whom Rivlin left alone for half an hour, held talks that were kept secret from the public. The two parties’ negotiating teams will meet on Tuesday, which will be followed by another trio meeting on Wednesday.

“Now, the first challenge is building a channel of direct dialogue out of trust between the two sides,” Rivlin said, according to the Post.

The two parties share an approximately similar number of Knesset seats – 33 and 31 for Likud and Blue and White, respectively. With smaller allied parties, the corresponding numbers are 55 and 54. This is still short of a 61-seat majority required for a victory.