Intense negotiations to form unity government resumed Sunday as each side battles for powerful cabinet positions, trying to sign agreement later in the day. By Paul Shindman, World Israel NewsThere is “significant progress” in negotiations to form a government of national unity with the main players – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Resilience Party leader Benny Gantz – meeting again Sunday to try and ink a deal by the end of the day, Hebrew media reported. Gantz made a surprise decision Thursday to join an emergency unity government under Netanyahu as the nation faces economic and health tsunamis from the coronavirus pandemic. With 120 members in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, a 30-member cabinet would mean one in every four parliamentarians would be a cabinet minister. “I chose that it is the time for unity,” said Tamanu-Shata, who may become the country’s first female cabinet minister of Ethiopian descent.

Source: Ethiopian News March 29, 2020 09:11 UTC