Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has informed the President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, that he has been unable to form a coalition government, two days ahead of the deadline that Rivlin gave him. Netanyahu blamed the leader of Blue and White for the impossibility of forming a national unity government. Netanyahu’s rival and winner of the September elections, Benny Gantz, will try to form a government within 28 days. Gantz’s party has 33 seats in the Knesset, far from the 61 seats needed to have a majority. The Joint List of Arab parties stated that it could possibly support the formation of a minority government under Gantz rule but from the opposition. If after this 28-day period Gantz is not able to gather enough support for a coalition to run the country, new elections will be organized for the third time in a year. According to the BBC, many Israelis believe that new elections are the only way to break the deadlock.