Benny Gantz, leader of Blue and White, has announced he has not succeeded in forming a coalition government. Gantz was given a mandate to form a government by President Reuven Rivlin after the first candidate, Benjamin Netanyahu, failed to do so. Lawmakers now have 21 days to nominate a candidate with majority support. If this candidate also fails, Israel will hold the third elections in a year. Gantz has accused Netanyahu of making “a dangerous move” in blocking his party to form a government while the current Prime Minister accused him of trying to govern with the support of Israeli Arabs, which he labelled as an “existential threat”. Both candidates’ parties lack enough support to achieve the needed majority of 61 seats. Yisrael Beitenu, the party of Avigdor Lieberman, and the Joint List are key in this respect. The announcement has taking place a few hours before Netanyahu’s indictment on 21 November. The PM is accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three cases, charges that he denies. However, his opponents accuse him of wanting parliament to grant him immunity from prosecution. The Likud, Netanyahu’s party, has announced that it will hold a leadership vote in six weeks amid growing internal pressures for Netanyahu to step aside.