By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News -
In an eleventh hour maneuver to block a unity government headed by Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid and Yemina chair Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come up with a creative solution – a three man rotation.
Veteran Likud negotiator Yaakov Atraktzi reportedly made an offer to New Hope chair Giden Sa’ar on Saturday evening, stating that Sa’ar could serve as prime minister for 15 months, followed by Netanyahu for two years. Bennett would finish out the remainder of the term.
The proposal was outlined in a letter made public by Netanyahu, and signed by the heads of the other parties in his right-wing block, Moshe Gafni of United Torah Judaism, Aryeh Deri of Shas, and Betzalel Smotrich of Religious Zionism.
“In an effort to end personal considerations and take unprecedented, far-reaching steps to guarantee the security and the character of the State of Israel and prevent the formation of a left-wing government that would endanger the state, we the undersigned party heads are making this offer,” the letter addressed to Bennett and Sa’ar reads.
Also included in the letter was a promise that this would be Netanyahu’s last term in office.
Sa’ar appears to have rejected the offer immediately, writing on his Twitter account, “Our position and commitment was and remains: to change Netanyahu’s regime. We will continue to act accordingly. A warm recommendation for the coming days: Ignore spins.”
But the proposal appears to have made waves in the Yemina party, as a faction meeting – in which Bennett was widely expected to inform his faction that he’d agreed to join the unity government – was postponed by four hours.
Yemina MK Ayelet Shaked, who is number two on the party’s list, cancelled an appearance in Eilat scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
One Yemina MK, Amichai Chikli, has vocally opposed the idea of his party joining a government with center-left and left-wing parties, pledged that he will not vote for such a coalition.
Some Hebrew language media reported that Bennett informed Lapid last Friday of his intention to join the unity government.
Others said that Bennett was still weighing all of his options.
Image: Laliv g, CC BY-SA 4.0 <;, via Wikimedia Commons
