The President, Rubi Rivlin, has tasked Benjamin Netanyahu with forming the government coalition after unity talks were going nowhere. If Netanyahu fails, theoretically Gantz will then be given a chance. If Gantz is given a chance and fails, it goes to the Knesset to try to appoint a Prime Minister supported by 61 MKs. If the Knesset fails, it then goes to elections. Anywhere along the way the Knesset can be dissolved and sent to elections, as happened last time.
In the meantime, each side is blaming the other for the failure of unity government talks. Gantz is blaming Netanyahu for the failure because Netanyahu came with a block of 55 saying he represents them all and if Gantz's offer is not good for all 55, it is not good for any. So, Gantz says Netanyahu torpedoed the talks by insisting on representing all 55 members of different parties. That is in addition to the problem of Netanyahu having possible indictments over his head. In exchange, Netanyahu blames Gantz for the failure of the unity talks, saying he is being stubborn and unreasonable in his demands and he, Netanyahu, is the democratically elected leader of the Likud and Gantz cannot just demand he be replaced.
The country and the media are taking sides, with some blaming Gantz and others blaming Netanyahu.
I say it is the fault of neither. They are not members of the same party. Each party has issues important to it. Negotiations for unity are to find a point in common with which both sides can work, but if the two sides each have issues and opinions that are so far apart from each other, they have no way to work with each other. Gantz does not owe Netanyahu any compromise on issues important to their voters, and Netanyahu does not owe Gantz any compromise on issues important to his voters. It would be nice for them to find a way to work it out, but neither side owes the other and neither side is to blame for the failure of the unity talks.
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