Arab lawmakers endorse Benny Gantz for PM

The historic endorsement highlighted the first day of President Reuven Rivlin's crucial consultations with various party representatives. Israel's largely ceremonial president is responsible for picking the politician with the best chance of forming a stable coalition government.

Jerusalem:The Arab bloc in Israel's parliament on Sunday endorsed Blue and White party chairman Benny Gantz for prime minister, giving the former military chief an edge for the job over incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu.

The historic endorsement highlighted the first day of President Reuven Rivlin's crucial consultations with various party representatives.

He's set to meet all the parliamentary factions before selecting his candidate for prime minister after a deadlocked repeat election made forming any new government a daunting task.

Israel's largely ceremonial president is responsible for picking the politician with the best chance of forming a stable coalition government.

This time Israeli President Reuven Rivlin plays a key role after a repeat election held last week.

In that vote, neither of the top candidates appeared to secure the support of a majority of 61 members of the 120-seat parliament.

The Arab-led bloc known as the Joint List emerged from the election as the third-largest party with 13 seats.

Maverick politician Avigdor Lieberman, head of the mid-sized Yisrael Beitenu party, remains the key power broker.

He hasn't endorsed either candidate, so with the nod from the Arab parties, Gantz expects to have 57 backers to Netanyahu's 55.

The president will usually appoint the candidate with the greatest number of supporters, but not necessarily.

Given the unprecedented nature of this election and the tricky arithmetic involved, Rivlin has wide discretion at his disposal in making his pick.

In last week's vote, Gantz's centrist Blue and White party won 33 seats in the 120-member parliament, while Netanyahu's conservative Likud took 31 seats.

Neither can muster a parliamentary majority with their traditional smaller allies.

The deciding factor looks to be former defense minister of Israel Avigdor Lieberman and the eight seats his Yisrael Beitenu party captured.

He's demanding a broad unity government with the two major parties that are secular and excludes the ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.

That appears to be the emerging compromise between Blue and White and Likud, though both are insisting upon leading it.

Complicating matters is Blue and White's refusal to sit with Netanyahu because he faces a likely indictment on corruption charges.

The first step out of the quagmire is the consultations at the president's residence, where each of the parties is asked to make its recommendations.

Rivlin's eventual candidate will have up to six weeks to form a coalition.

If that fails, Rivlin could give another candidate for prime minister 28 days to form a coalition.

And if that doesn't work, new elections would be triggered yet again.

Rivlin has said that he will do everything possible to avoid such a scenario and no one appears interested in a third Israeli election within a year.