“The announcement led to both parties accusing each other of intransigence and claiming that the other side was pushing the country toward a third election. And it could pave the way to Netanyahu ending his coalition-building efforts and returning the mandate to do so to Israel’s president.”

“Talks to form a national unity government in Israel hit a further snag on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s centrist election rival called off a meeting with the embattled leader.”

“The Joint List of Arab-majority parties does not rule out the possibility of supporting a government led by Kahol Lavan, together with leftist and ultra-Orthodox parties, Ta’al party leader MK Ahmad Tibi told Channel 13 on Saturday.”

“’The Joint list can’t be part of a governing coalition because that would make us responsible for the decisions taken by the government,’ he said.”

“Also Wednesday, Joint List Arab lawmaker Ahmad Tibi announced to the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee that the 13 Arab lawmakers of the Arab-majority party will be absent from the opening ceremony. Their boycott is intended as a gesture of ‘protest against the wave of murders and violence’ in the Israeli Arab community.”

“Twelve of Netanyahu’s lawyers will cram in across from some 20 Justice Ministry officials who have been following the prime minister’s corruption casessince 2016. At the premier’s request, the hearing will span four days and will end on Monday evening – a day before the eve of the Jewish day of judgement, Yom Kippur. By December, only several weeks away, the Justice Ministry aspires to reach a final decision.”

“Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit has recommended indicting Netanyahu on bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges in three different cases. The hearing offers Netanyahu’s legal team a chance to present its defense in hopes of convincing authorities to drop the charges. A decision on whether to indict is expected by the end of the year.”