Correspondent Ben Caspit confirms that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did indeed make overtures to prevent going to the polls, quite serious in fact. It has been learned that on last motzei Shabbos Shas party leader Aryeh Deri was offered the post of finance minister following the firing of Yair Lapid.
Netanyahu however was aware that his foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, promised to use his veto power to nix any such coalition from forming. So what did the prime minister do to persuade Lieberman?
According to the report Netanyahu unofficially sent an emissary to Mr. Lieberman’s Gush Etzion home, where he was sitting shiva for his mother. He informed Lieberman that he was willing to rotate the premiership in the last year of his term, explaining that this would provide him the experience needed in the eyes of the public to become a contender for the slot in the future. Caspit points out that of course this was all unofficial, while the offer was quite serious, permitting the Prime Minister’s Office to deny it occurred as is the case today.
Caspit quotes King Richard the Third’s “My kingdom for a horse quote”, comparing it to Bibi III (term), who is now willing to do the same based on growing print and electronic media reports that he may not be living in the Prime Minister’s Residence following the next elections.
Lieberman rejected the offer, explaining his word was given to voters and he is not going back on it, that he would not sit in the coalition with Shas.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
ROFLOL. Hand over the keys to the treasury to a convicted felon? The country wouldn’t stand for it: Bibi’s own party would have joined in a no-confidence vote. Another fairy tale concocted by a left-wing journalist to smear the Prime Minister.
But he wasn’t offering not to throw hareidim or jail or to close down yeshivos? The Israeli nationalist camp would rather give up the West Bank than give up the chance to strike a mortal blow at the hareidim in Eretz Yisrael.
I doubt that you can call Lieberman and co nationalist’s and the majority in the Likud and Beit Yehudi has no such ideas, on the contrary.