Netanyahu, Bennett discuss building coalition together

According to Kan News, Bennett wants Lapid to recommend him to President Reuven Rivlin on Monday to form the next government, a demand that Lapid is unlikely to accept.

At the same time, Lapid will presumably demand that Bennett declare that he will not enter a government under Netanyahu, as a condition of any discussion of a prime ministerial rotation agreement between the two in the event that the ‘bloc for change’ and Yamina can to establish some form of government.

Sources in Yamina said the party is leaning towards recommending Bennett to form a government, although he is almost certainly not close to obtaining the mandate, and then seeing how events unfold.

The Islamic Framework Party met in Nazareth on Saturday to discuss who he would recommend to form a government, but allegedly made no decision.

Kan News reported that sources within the party of Gidon Saar’s New Hope party indicated that it would not rule out being part of a government that relies on the abstention of Raam.

Netanyahu praised during a Mimouna celebration on Saturday night that he had been successful in bringing coronavirus vaccines to Israel and warned of challenges facing the country, including the Iranian nuclear program.

“In the midst of these challenges and in the light of the wonderful opportunities that lie ahead, we need for years a stable right-wing government that will look after the citizens of Israel, that is what is needed now, and God wants to achieve it it, and I believe it is possible, ”Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu met with Bennett in the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem on Friday and “discussed the need for a ‘stable, functioning government as soon as possible,” a Bennett spokesman said after the meeting.

Netanyahu is expected to offer key ministerial posts for Bennett and a merger of Bennett’s Yamina in Netanyahu’s Likany. But he is not expected to offer Bennett what he wants: a rotation as prime minister.

Bennett did not want to reveal his intention when he spoke to reporters at the prime minister’s office before the meeting.

‘We [in Yamina] has one goal, and that is to form a good and stable government that will help Israeli citizens as soon as possible, “Bennett said.” We will do everything possible to achieve that. “

Sources close to New Hope chief Gideon Sa’ar said on Friday a headline from Israel Hayom about Bennett offering Netanyahu that the Yamina leader would go first in a rotation with the prime minister, which was made by New Hope of outside the coalition would be supported.

According to the sources, he will not only keep his promise not to sit in a Netanyahu-led government, but also from outside a coalition in which Netanyahu serves as an alternative prime minister.

Bennett will meet with opposition leader Yair Lapid on Saturday night, who is expected to offer Bennett to run first in a rotation as prime minister. But sources close to Bennett said Thursday night that he had already decided not to recommend Lapid to form a government when he met with President Reuven Rivlin on Monday.

The leader of the religious Zionists, Bezalel Smotrich, reiterated on Friday morning that his party would not sit in a government with Ra’am or ‘other supporters of terror’, after Abbas delivered a speech in Hebrew on Thursday in which he asked has to coexist.

“The formation of a government that will rely on Ra’am and Abbas will be a disaster and weep for generations, and we will not allow it to form,” Smotrich said, asking Sa’ar and Bennett to to join a right-wing government led by Netanyahu.

“Whoever gives a hand to Abbas ‘outstretched hand” castrates – consciously or unconsciously – the most basic Israeli ethos, “incoming MK elector Orit Struck warned on Friday in response to Abbas’ statements that he was extending his arm to coexistence Are Israel.

“Whoever gives a hand to Abbas’ ‘outstretched hand’, castrates – consciously or unconsciously – the most basic Israeli ethos and kicks along the way the Arabs who are willing to accept this ethos, join the IDF and work for a true partnership with the State of Israel, ”Struck tweeted.

But in an effort to change Smotrich’s decision not to rely on Ra’am to form a coalition, outgoing MK Ayoub Kara met with Religious Zionist Party mentor Rabbi Haim Druckman on Friday. Kara told The Jerusalem Post after the meeting that it was “very interesting” and that he and the rabbi were optimistic that Netanyahu would be able to form a coalition.

Abbas delivered a speech in Hebrew in Nazareth on Thursday night in an attempt to reach out to Jewish Israelis, but he did not disclose his political plans.

“What unites us is stronger than what separates us,” he said. “The time has come to listen to others.”