JERUSALEM: Israeli challenger Benny Gantz met Sunday with incumbent prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks to try and put together a coalition government in the wake of two inconclusive general elections.
It was their first round of direct talks since president Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday tasked ex-military chief Gantz with trying to form a government.
Following the deadlocked elections on September 17, Netanyahu had tried to form a coalition, but finally gave up on October 21 — his second such failure this year.
A joint statement from Netanyahu’s Likud and Gantz’s Blue and White alliance after Sunday’s meeting however did not herald any breakthrough.
“The two discussed the structure of political options available,” the English-language statement said.
“Another meeting is anticipated between the two.”
Earlier Sunday the side’s negotiating teams met in what Blue and White called “good spirits.”
The joint statement released later said they “would continue to communicate.”
Both Likud and Blue and White say they want a unity government, but disagree on how to achieve it.
Likud has been seeking to negotiate based on a compromise set out by Rivlin that takes into account the possibility the premier will be indicted for corruption in the coming weeks.
It could see him remain prime minister for now, but step aside at some point later as he combats the charges.
Gantz would take over as acting premier under such a scenario.
Blue and White says Gantz should be prime minister first under any rotation arrangement since his party won the most seats, finishing with 33 compared to Likud’s 32.
Whoever wants to govern needs to find partners with which to control a majority of at least 61 seats in the 120-member Israeli parliament.
Gantz meets Netanyahu for Israeli coalition talks
Gantz meets Netanyahu for Israeli coalition talks
- A joint statement from Netanyahu’s Likud and Gantz’s Blue and White alliance after meeting however did not herald any breakthrough
Hoping for better year ahead, Gazans bid farewell to ‘nightmare’
- Humanitarian agencies have warned that shortages of food, clean water and medical supplies persist, while winter conditions are worsening life in overcrowded camps
GAZA CITY: As 2025 draws to a close, Palestinians in Gaza are marking the new year not with celebration, but with exhaustion, grief and a fragile hope that their “endless nightmare” might finally end.
For residents of the battered territory, daily life is a struggle for survival.
Much of Gaza’s infrastructure lies in ruins, electricity remains scarce and hundreds of thousands of people live in makeshift tents after being repeatedly displaced by the two years of fighting that began with Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023.
“We in the Gaza Strip are living in an endless nightmare,” said Hanaa Abu Amra, a displaced woman in her thirties living in Gaza City. “We hope that this nightmare will end in 2026 ... The least we can ask for is a normal life — to see electricity restored, the streets return to normal and to walk without tents lining the roads,” she said.
Across Gaza, a territory of more than 2 million people, scenes of hardship are commonplace.
The outgoing year brought relentless loss and fear, said Shireen Al-Kayali.
“We bid farewell to 2025 with deep sorrow and grief,” she said.
“We lost a lot of people and our possessions. We lived a difficult and harsh life, displaced from one city to another, under bombardment and in terror.”
Her experience reflects that of countless Gazans who have been forced to flee repeatedly, often with little warning, taking with them only what they could carry.
Entire families have been uprooted, livelihoods destroyed, and communities fragmented as the war dragged on for two years.
Despite the devastation, some residents cling to the belief that the new year might bring an end to the fighting and a chance to rebuild.
For many Gazans, hope has become an act of resilience, particularly after the truce that came into effect on October 10 and has largely halted the fighting.
“We still hope for a better life in the new year, and I call on the free world to help our oppressed people so we can regain our lives,” said Khaled Abdel Majid, 50, who lives in a tent in Jabalia camp.
Faten Al-Hindawi hoped the truce would finally end the war.
“We will bid farewell to 2025, leaving behind its pain, and we hope that 2026 will be a year of hope, prayer, determination and success stories.”
