By Arye Green/TPS • 23 September, 2019

President Reuven Rivlin on Monday night met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud party and Blue and White party leader Member of Knesset (MK) Benny Gantz at the President’s official residence.

Rivlin invited the party leaders to work together to form a unity government based on a broad coalition and prevent the possibility of a third round of elections.

Going into the meeting, Rivlin told Netanyahu and Gantz that “The nation expects you to find a solution and prevent another round of elections, even at a personal or an ideological cost. This is not a time for boycotts.”

The three began the meeting at 8:00 PM, and after approximately an hour Rivlin left the party leaders to discuss the prospects of a unity government. The two leaders continued the discussion for over an hour. As he left, Rivlin sounded cautiously hopeful regarding the possibility of a unity government. “We have taken a significant step forward tonight, and now the first challenge is to establish a channel of direct communication between the sides,” Rivlin said.

Netanyahu and Gantz issued a joint statement as they concluded their meeting, saying they “discussed ways to promote national unity, and have agreed that the party’s negotiation teams will meet tomorrow.”

President Rivlin has invited the party leaders to meet him again on Wednesday, to continue discussing prospects of a coalition government that includes both major parties.

Earlier on Monday, Gantz met with Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Liberman to discuss possible solutions to the current political deadlock. After the meeting, Liberman said that Netanyahu and Gantz have agreed on a rotation arrangement for the position of prime minister, where each of them would serve in that capacity for two years. He added that Netanyahu and Gantz did not agree on who should take the first term as Prime Minister, and expressed hope that they would work out their differences.