The relationship between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, which until now has been the longest-standing and most stable partnership in Israeli politics, has deteriorated, Channel 12 News reported on Motzei Shabbos.

According to the report, the relationship between the two has been growing increasingly tense but both denied that fact when asked about it. Now it’s reached a stage that neither of them deny the breakdown in their relationship in private conversations.

Many coalition members view Shaked, who is perhaps the most right-wing member of the government as having “one foot in the door and one foot out.”

The report added that coalition members are not yet afraid that Shaked will resign from the government, mainly because she has nowhere else to go, but it’s clear to everyone that the relationship between her and Bennett has frayed.

The report also said that Bennett has recently been holding talking on establishing a “new nationalist party” to run in the next elections, which will include Gideon Sa’ar and Avigdor Leiberman.

At this stage, the plan is Bennett’s alone and it’s not clear what Shaked’s role will be in it.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)