The daily Yisrael Hayom newspaper reports on Sunday, 23 Shevat 5773 that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu prefers a coalition that includes the chareidi parties over Yesh Atid. The report explains that if compelled to select between Yair Lapid or Shas and Yahadut Hatorah, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu prefers the chareidim for the prime minister does not want the stability of his coalition resting on the shoulders of Lapid. In essence, from the perspective of numbers, it is almost equal as Lapid has 19 seats while Shas and Yahadut Hatorah have a combined 18 seats.
Ideally the prime minister would like a broad-based coalition that included all of them but if Yesh Atid remains adamant regarding the share the burden issue, it will have to be one or the other, Lapid’s party or the chareidim.
The chareidim last week signaled a willingness to accept the modified share the burden plan that was announced by Likud’s Minister Moshe Ya’alon, rejecting the Lapid share the burden plan as a non-starter.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
Lapid seems to be thinking he is bigger than he really is. He does not want to compromise.
If I were Lapid I’d watch out, he can end up like is father ym”s.
1. Netanyahu needed the two out of three: the Hareidim, Bayit Yehudi (Religious zonists), or Lapid ( ultra-secular).
2. He’ll always prefer Hareidim if he can since all they want is some favors for their community, and will otherwise give the Prime Minister to run the government.
3. While Lapid’s demands to draft all yeshiva students and start drafting all frum women (probably excluding mothers) cause problems for Netanyahu, so do Bennett’s demands on settlements in the West Bank.
4. He can also try to get some other parties to fill in the gap, as the smaller parties (Livni, Kadimah) might be less fussy.
Empty words; Netanyahu has no coalition without Lapid and everybody (except YWN?) knows it.
No, Habayit Hayehudi will not join a narrow coalition with the Likud and the Haredim. It, and its constituents, are as determined to bring real change to to the issue of military service as is Lapid. Nor do they have much more patience for the budgetary shenanigans of the Haredi MKs. In fact, it seems that on internal affairs issues in general, Bennet and Lapid are closer to one another than either is with Netanyahu.
That being said, both Bennet and Lapid have been clear that they prefer cooperation to coercion. The ‘share the burden’ issue is, after all, not only about doing the right thing but about enhancing the unity of am yisrael. While there are more than a few people (on both sides of the question) who are eager to rip us apart, neither Bennet nor Lapid can be counted among them. So, if Shas is serious, some accommodation will, b”h, be found.