Following the Monday evening 9 Kislev meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Yesh Atid leader Finance Minister Yair Lapid there is no longer a doubt that the prime minister is distancing himself from his current major coalition partner. Hours ahead of the meeting the prime minister set the groundwork, telling the media there are ministers on his cabinet who do not hesitate to speak out against the very government they are a member of and if this continues, he will draw the appropriate conclusion and there will be early elections.

During the meeting the prime minister told Lapid that his flagship legislation, the Zero VAT Bill is being put on hold as one of his five demands. This is unquestionably a red flag for Lapid, who announced on numerous occasions that if the Zero VAT Bill is not passed, his 19-seat party will break from the coalition.

The conditions presented to Lapid by the prime minister include;
1. An immediate halt to the quarreling and undermining of the cabinet, particularly the public condemnation of the cabinet decision to continue building in Yerushalayim and Israel’s relationship with the USA.
2. To turn over 6 billion shekels to the Defense Ministry immediately as promised.
3. To release the budget for the Ir Badim, the IDF project to move all its bases to the Negev.
4. Yesh Atid must support the Jewish Nation Bill.
5. The Zero VAT Bill is not going to move ahead.

The prime minister explained that by freezing the Zero VAT Bill, the billions of shekels that the government will save will be used to provide immediate and genuine solutions towards driving down housing costs, which Lapid’s bill is not doing.

After the five conditions were announced, particularly the last two, it is clear Yesh Atid is not going to continue in the current coalition and elections are now a matter of time.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)