OK, I’ll go: Bibi
Israeli PM offers to step down in ’21 Hardhat in fight for life after Triborough crash
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday he is ready to step down next year as part of a proposed power-sharing agreement with his chief rival meant to steer the country through the coronavirus crisis and end a year-long political deadlock.
Netanyahu made his proposal during a nationally televised interview, calling for the formation of a three-year “emergency” unity government with the rival Blue and White Party.
Netanyahu said he would remain as prime minister for the first year and a half, and allow Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to assume the post for a second year-and-a-half term in September 2021. He said each party would have an equal number of seats in the cabinet.
“I will give up the prime minister’s post in another year and a half,” Netanyahu said.
Yair Lapid, a senior Blue and White leader, dismissed Netanyahu’s unity offer as insincere. “Next week, we will go to choose a new parliament speaker and work to battle coronavirus for the good of the people,” he said.
Israel is facing a growing threat from the pandemic. It has detected nearly 900 cases, and on Friday reported its first death. With the public largely confined to their homes, the economy appears to be in great danger, with tens of thousands of people losing their jobs.
Blue and White has accused Netanyahu of using the coronavirus crisis to undermine the country’s democratic institutions and to try to derail his scheduled trial on corruption charges.
Senior members of Gantz’s party have expressed skepticism at previous power-sharing overtures by Netanyahu, concerned that he would not follow through on his promises to cede power.
Israel this month held its third inconclusive election in under a year. Netanyahu’s Likud emerged as the largest single party, but fell short of securing a required parliamentary majority. A slim majority of lawmakers has endorsed Gantz as their choice for prime minister, though it is unclear whether he will be able to cobble together a governing coalition either.
Gantz now has just over three weeks to form a new government.
In the meantime, he is trying to push through legislation in parliament that would in effect prevent Netanyahu from serving as prime minister in the future.
The legislation would impose term limits on the prime minister and bar a politician indicted on criminal charges, like Netanyahu, from being prime minister.
A construction worker was fighting for his life Saturday morning after a box truck rammed into the back of his flatbed truck on the Triborough Bridge, sending the hardhat flying onto the roadway, officials said.
Four other workers were also hospitalized following the 8 a.m. crash on the Queens-bound side of the bridge near the Randalls Island exit, authorities said.
The construction crew had parked the flatbed truck and were about to start work when a moving-company truck slammed into the back of the crew’s vehicle.
A 44-year-old and a 55year-old were standing on the flatbed and were thrown onto the roadway, authorities said.
Medics took the two construction workers to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where the younger man remained in critical condition Saturday. The older worker was in serious condition.
A 38-year-old woman driving the flatbed truck and two other construction workers injured during the crash were taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center with minor injuries, officials said.
The 25-year-old man driving the box truck, owned by Shleppers Moving & Storage, remained at the scene. No charges were immediately filed.