Against the background of the deadlock on the right and the fear of forming a government of the "Bloc of Change", Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke with Shas chairman • Blue and white chairman Gantz sent a message to Netanyahu that he would agree to sit in his government if Gantz is first in rotation • Or another senior member of the Likud is on the agenda
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri (Archive)
Photo:
Mark Israel Salem
Sources on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have in recent days approached Shas chairman Minister Aryeh Deri to examine with him the possibility of him being appointed prime minister in rotation for the first year, in order to allow Gideon Saar to join the right-wing government.
Deri rejected the appeal.
"Israel Today" has learned that despite the negative response of the Shas chairman, senior Likud members, on Netanyahu's mission, tried to persuade him to accept the offer in order to get out of the political tangle. Shas officials confirmed this. The Likud estimates that of all Netanyahu's options to give a person from the political system the position of prime minister for a year in order to prevent the other bloc from forming a coalition, Deri is Netanyahu's favorite. However, Deri is not interested in the position. Deri was told by Israel Today that "Minister Deri is not interested in the position of prime minister."
In the past week, a blue-and-white chairman, Bnei Gantz, also sent a message that in exchange for his first year as prime minister, he would agree to sit in Netanyahu's government, despite his commitments not to do so. In the first year, he will be headed by Bnei Gantz, who will also serve as defense minister, and then Netanyahu will replace him for two years, after which Gantz will take the lead again. It is unclear how much of this option is Netanyahu's priority, but talks between the parties continue.
It should be emphasized that, unlike the other options, the advantage of choosing a rotation government with Ganz from Netanyahu's point of view is that in such a government there will be no need for a right-wing coalition led by Naftali Bennett, since the coalition would appoint 60 MKs without him.
Another option that Netanyahu is considering is cooperation in a similar format with Naftali Bennett, Gideon Saar, as well as the possibility of rotating with one of the senior Likud members.
The disadvantage for Netanyahu in cooperating with Bennett or Saar, as well as with Ganz, is that this exposes him, apart from relinquishing his tenure as prime minister for a year, to political exercises by personalities he is less confident in.
In this respect, Netanyahu probably prefers one of his party's senior members.
At the same time, procedurally, real difficulties may arise, because it is possible that as far as a Likud MK is concerned, he will have to be elected in the primaries, and it is not certain that Netanyahu will be able to appoint the same MK himself.
Another crucial point pointed out by senior Likud voters is that in the end almost all possibilities require the approval of Gideon Saar, who is supposed to decide whether to enter such a government or not.
Saar promised not to sit under Netanyahu and the question of whether this also applies to a government of this type, in which Netanyahu leaves power for a year and serves as the deputy prime minister.
The fact that Netanyahu has been looking for options for a government in which he has not been prime minister for a year indicates that, according to senior political figures, he has come to the conclusion that the alternative government, led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid in cooperation with left-wing parties, would probably have preferred To lose the mandate, to wait for the other side to fail as well, and then to go to further elections, general or direct, in which in the meantime he holds the presidency.