Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar are currently in talks to run together in Israel's next election, according to a Friday night report by N12.
In an earlier report the same day, Mako quoted Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked as saying that "the chances of an alternative government are zero" and that "we're going to elections."
Background and predictions
A KAN report in April predicted that Gantz and Sa'ar could run together due to the crisis within the coalition. At the time, the New Hope party had barely crossed the 3.25% electoral threshold in polls but would be able to remain in the Knesset if combined with Gantz's party.
In early June, Sa'ar had denied reports that he was in talks with Likud to form an alternate government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, stating that he is "responsible more than anyone for Netanyahu being removed from power."
It was officially confirmed on Monday that Israel would hold its fifth election in three and a half years after efforts by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid failed to stabilize the coalition.
Gil Hoffman contributed to this report.