Heads of the Yemina list have meet to discuss the current political situation and ongoing efforts towards establishing a right-wing coalition government. Transportation Minister Betzalel Smotrich announces that they plan to enter a right-wing coalition “without any political spins”, seeking to send a clear message to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, that they are on board without question, amid the realization that obtaining the required 61-seat majority presents a formidable challenge with the current realities.

From the chareidi camp, the leaders of the various factions: Deputy Minister Yaakov Litzman, Minister Aryeh Deri and MK Moshe Gafne have met with the prime minister, and they too indicated their willingness to join a right-wing government.

While this is all well and good, in reality, if they all sign on, they still will not reach the magic number, 61, as they require MK Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beitenu party. At present, Likud has 32 seats, Shas 9, Yemina 7, and Yahadut Hatorah 7; for a total of 55. Yisrael Beitenu and its 8 seats would bring them to 63, but party chairman Avigdor Lieberman has announced he will not enter into a coalition with the chareidi and religious parties, nor will he enter into a coalition without the Blue & White party.

The problem here lies with the fact that Blue & White Chairman MK Benny Gantz announced he will not enter into a deal with Likud for as long as PM Netanyahu stands at the helm of the list as he is being probed in a number of cases for alleged fraud and breach of trust and criminal indictments are likely to be filed against him. Netanyahu announced last week that if he is indicted, he will declare himself ‘incapacitated’ and step down from office, hoping this will suffice for Gantz, but to date, there is no movement towards the parties uniting.

In a weekend development, PM Netanyahu announced he will not hold early primaries for leadership of the party as he indicated last week, but he will have the Likud Central Committee ratify him as the one and only candidate representing the party. By removing early primaries from the list of possibilities, Netanyahu eliminates any chance of his rivals unseating him, primarily MK Gideon Saar and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, with Edelstein holding the second seat on the party lineup.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)