"I will leave office on the agreed date," Netanyahu said in a message to Gantz. "There will be no shticks and tricks. Millions of Israelis are waiting for us."
Gantz denied that a deal had been reached, saying: "Those who want unity do not work with ultimatums and harmful leaks and certainly do not try to hurt our democracy and citizens by paralyzing the Knesset."
Netanyahu said that the deal was waiting to be signed, but a move to replace Yuli Edelstein as Knesset Speaker would prevent the agreement. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on Sunday that Edelstein must enable the formation of committees and a vote for who should be speaker when the Knesset reconvenes on Monday.
According to details of the proposed deal, Likud would start out with the posts of prime minister, finance minister and Knesset speaker, and Blue and White would start with a deputy prime minister, defense minister and foreign minister and then switch after a year and a half. The Justice portfolio would be filled in an agreement by either an outsider or a minister and a deputy from each party.
Netanyahu blamed Gantz's number two in Blue and White, Yair Lapid, for holding up the signing of the deal. If Lapid continues to refuse to the enter the government, Blue and White would be left with only the MKs from Gantz's Israel Resilience Party, part of MK Moshe Ya'alon's Telem Party and none of the MKs from Lapid's Yesh Atid Party.
While attempts are being made to organize a meeting between Netanyahu and Gantz, his initial response to Netanyahu's offer was negative.
Lapid accused Netanyahu of lying and said that there was no such agreement.
