Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed on 90 percent of the contentious issues with the leader of Blue and White, Benny Gantz, including postponing the move to annex Palestinian lands for a period of 4- 6 months, according to sources well-informed over the negotiations.
The two Israeli officials decided that the government should have one primary concern and that is to fight the coronavirus and approving the state budget to prevent a health and economic collapse.
They also agreed to postpone the issue of annexing the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea regions, and impose Israeli law on settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The sources went on to state that Netanyahu feels there is a great conspiracy to remove him from power, noting that the PM talked about some “hidden forces” which he described as a “deep state that wants to see him locked up.”
Haaretz's Investigative journalist, Gidi Weitz, said on Friday that Netanyahu informed his associates that even though he has been elected repeatedly, in reality, the country is controlled by a “deep state.”
“There’s no democracy here, but a government of bureaucrats and jurists,” he said, adding: "they want to see me sitting in jail."
The Prime Minister accused the chairman of Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman, Avigdor Lieberman, of being behind those forces seeking to topple him.
In his view, the law enforcement agencies have information that would justify a criminal investigation against Lieberman, but won’t use it as long as he’s working to destroy Netanyahu politically.
Weitz’s report said that it is still unclear whether courts will open because of the coronavirus crisis.
“He’ll start the trial, respond, see how the winds are blowing, and then he can make a decision,” a politician who knows Netanyahu said.
The politician said Netanyahu might seek to be appointed president, which gives him complete immunity from prosecution. He believes the Knesset would elect him president while his trial is ongoing, because they’ll want to get rid of him, adding that the High Court of Justice wouldn’t necessarily intervene.
Sources believe that this issue will be decisive in whether or not there will be a unity government, which could last three years, or if Netanyahu will drop it when it suits him to head to new elections bringing him back to power.
