Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Israeli Official: Current Government Coalition Will Not Continue


Thu 09 Jul 2020 | 06:35 PM
Ahmed Moamar

The head of the Israeli government coalition, the Likud MP, Mickey Zohar, said that the current government will not continue in office.

Zohar indicated that there is a "complete separation between his party and the "Blue and White" party led by the Minister of Defense Benny Gantz.

Zohar added over an interview with the newspaper "Israel Hume" that what maintains this government is only the crisis of the outbreak of the Coronavirus, considering that the solution, in his view, is that Blue and White should change its method of dealing with the Likud.

Zohar, who was described by the newspaper as the chief spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that he estimates that the government will not continue but he remains optimistic that the two sides will be rational in order to achieve stability in the government.

Zohar stressed that he did not trust Gantz to take over the government, revealing that Netanyahu should continue as prime minister. He did not support Gantz's candidacy as Prime Minister so he has little desire to be prime minister.

On the other hand, the Israeli army confirmed that the helicopter of its commander-in-chief, General Aviv Kochavi, made an emergency landing due to a technical failure.

The army said in a statement that the accident was caused by a technical failure of one of the two engines of the Black Hawk helicopter during the transportation of Kochavi and other senior military officials from the Knesset headquarters in Jerusalem to a military base.

"The helicopter crew took immediate steps, which allowed him to handle the accident safely, and there was no danger to the passengers lives," the statement said.

The Israeli military pointed out that the helicopter managed to land at the Tel Nouf air base in the center of the country, and then the chief of staff continued his journey in another helicopter.

Well-placed sources in Israel stressed that an investigation is underway into the accident.

The 12th Israeli channel, which revealed the accident before the official statement was issued, said it almost led to a catastrophe because the helicopter crew made a mistake in its operator.

The channel stated that the helicopter crew mistakenly stopped the operation of the second engine, which was not exposed to any malfunction, and not the defective engine. It noted that the helicopter began to land quickly as a result of this.

The landing continued, unless the crew realized the error and immediately initiated its repair. The helicopter was at that time is only 30 meters above the ground.