Yamina head Naftali Bennett said over the weekend that he has entered negotiations to form a “national unity government” with members of the “change bloc.”
Despite the fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still has 10 days remaining to form a government, Bennett said he is holding discussions with numerous political actors in order to establish a coalition without Netanyahu, although he said his hopes were not high that such a government could be formed.
Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid confirmed that he and Bennett are in discussions to form a national unity government, N12 reported.
Bennett also rejected the idea of direct prime ministerial elections, saying they would not resolve the political deadlock in the Knesset and further Knesset elections would be required regardless, and in short order.
In an extensive post on Facebook, Bennett said, once again, that his preference was to join a right-wing government but that he did not believe Netanyahu had done enough to bring that about.
In particular, he said the prime minister should have either pressured Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich to compromise, alluding to the latter’s refusal to countenance support from the Islamist Ra’am (United Arab List) Party, although not mentioning it explicitly.
Alternatively, he said Netanyahu should have compromised with New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar and let another Likud MK become prime minister in order to get Sa’ar to form a stable, right-wing government.
“From the moment I realized that Netanyahu did not intend to choose one of the two alternatives for forming a right-wing government, I began the effort to form a national unity government,” Bennett wrote.
THE YAMINA head laid out his exact reasoning for justifying negotiations to form a national unity government, weaving in the complexities associated with the goal of forming a right-wing government, his desire to be prime minister and opposition to a fifth election, which he says will be a disaster for Israel.
Slamming Netanyahu, Bennett said that the prime minister has “no possibility of forming a right-wing government and has no will to do whatever it takes to form a government.”
On the difficulties of forming a national unity government under the change bloc, Bennett said he had little confidence it would be possible, highlighting the ideological differences between all the parties of the bloc.
Bennett pointed out, however, that Netanyahu has himself had centrist and left-wing partners in the past such as former Labor leader Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni, then of Hatnua.
The Yamina leader acknowledged that a national unity government would not be able to annex settlements as he seeks to do, or reform the judicial system, another primary goal of his party and the right-wing.
At the same time, he said territory would not be transferred out of Israel’s control during such a government.
In the case that a national unity government is formed, Bennett said its priorities will be passing a budget, renewing the operations of government bureaucracies, and creating long-term policies for pressing economic issues in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition, he said numerous infrastructure projects could be initiated for Israel’s roads, railways and the strengthening of the country’s geographic periphery.
“If such a government is formed, all its partners would need to show restraint in their behavior, and perhaps we could [then] bring a modicum of quiet to the Israeli public,” wrote Bennett.
“Israel is in an extremely difficult crisis. In every crisis there are people sitting in the bleachers criticizing and explaining ‘why not,’ it’s easy to be ‘right.’ Even very easy. And there are those who enter the arena, strive to come up with solutions, face the difficult and unpleasant alternatives, and work for a solution. They are called leaders,” Bennett concluded.
The Likud Party responded to Bennett’s Facebook post, saying in a statement that Bennett wants to be prime minister at all costs, including at the cost of [forming] a left-wing government.”
Netanyahu’s party added that Bennett as prime minister of the change bloc would be a left-wing government with a right-wing fig leaf.
Bennett also on Friday pointedly rejected any boycott of the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism from joining the government, in reference to reports about Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman.
The report said Liberman would permit the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties to join later on but that they need a “cooling off period” out of the government beforehand.
“Bennett will not accept a boycott of haredim or any other group in Israel,” a Yamina spokesperson said. “Any government reform will care for all citizens of Israel and not discriminate against any sector.
“Any party that accepts our coalition guidelines will be invited to join.”
Yisrael Beytenu said in response that “we do not boycott any sector, including the ultra-Orthodox sector,” but that it would insist that any coalition it joins deals with issues such as conversion, ultra-Orthodox enlistment, civil marriage and reforming the kashrut (kosher laws) system.