"If there are 59, there will be 61," the prime minister said in closed-door talks. Support for the Common Arab List
Prime Minister Netanyahu says in closed talks that if Naftali Bennett joins him, it will be possible to form a right-wing government in the current Knesset.
According to Netanyahu, "if there are 59, there will be 61," Netanyahu said.
However, the prime minister did not explain who the Knesset members would be joining the bloc he and Levant shared or from which party they would come.
As will be recalled from the election results, the "Netanyahu Supporters' Bloc" has 52 seats and the right, led by Bennett, has 7.
According to Netanyahu, there are several options to go from 59 to 61, but in order not to jeopardize the possibility of achieving the goal, it is not worth listing them.
Netanyahu is very concerned about the possibility that a right-wing chairman, Naftali Bennett, will join the camp of his opponents, led by MKs Yair Lapid, Avigdor Lieberman and Gideon Saar.
In his estimation, the three will offer Bennett the prime minister's throne with the support of the left and through the avoidance of the joint Arab list.
The prime minister said in a closed conversation that such a scenario would show that his warnings on the eve of the election that Bennett had joined the left would turn out to be true.
"Even if Bennett heads it, it will not be a right-wing government, but a left-wing government made of patchwork, which will not last," Netanyahu said in a closed debate.
Bennett himself continues to keep the cards close to his chest, and even at this stage he does not say whether his face is set to form a government with Netanyahu's opponents or to return to the bloc and hope that this will lead to the formation of a government.
Bennett: "I will act according to what is good for the State of Israel"
However, Bennett's entourage vehemently rejected Netanyahu's claim that he was considering forming a government that relied on the support of the joint Arab list.
People close to Bennett noted that Netanyahu is the one negotiating with Mansour Abbas, the head of the RAAM list, who holds extremist nationalist positions identical to those of the members of the joint.
