Netanyahu to meet Bennett as Israel factions splinter
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will today meet Naftali
Bennett to discuss the latter’s demands to be appointed defence
minister, as camps quickly form between establishment factions.
Officials from inside the prime minister’s office revealed that
Netanyahu would meet with Bennett – the head of the Jewish Home party
and current education minister – to discuss the position of defence
minister following the shock resignation of Avigdor Lieberman yesterday.
Netanyahu will also meet with the other heads of the ruling coalition
factions to decide whether to disband the government and call for
elections, Arutz Sheva reported.
The meeting will be seen as indication of Netanyahu’s desire to respond
quickly to Bennett’s demand that his Jewish Home party be handed the
defence portfolio. Bennett yesterday threatened to withdraw from the
coalition if his demands were not met, which would leave Netanyahu short
of a Knesset majority and unlikely to survive the upcoming Haredi draft
law vote that must be passed before 2 December.
Meanwhile, divisions between key figures in the Israeli establishment
have quickly formed, with ministers supporting either the Netanyahu or
Bennett camp. Senior figures from the ruling Likud party have largely
stood behind Netanyahu’s decision to impose a ceasefire with Gaza after
an intense escalation of violence this weekend, slamming both Lieberman
and Bennett’s actions.
Likud MK Ze’ev Elkin – who is currently minister of Jerusalem affairs
and was recently defeated in the Jerusalem mayoral elections – condemned
Lieberman’s decision to resign, labelling it “bizarre”. Speaking to
Israel’s Army Radio today, Elkin said: “Lieberman’s resignation at this
time is bizarre and completely lacking responsibility. I cannot find any
logical explanation for his decision,” the Jerusalem Post reported.
Elkin added: “With all due respect to politics, there is a country here, there are challenges here – we have to deal with them.”
Another Likud MK Yehuda Glick slammed Bennett’s demand, calling the
Jewish Home a “right-wing fringe party”. Glick wrote on Twitter: “When
the only issue that justifies a threat to topple a government is the
defense portfolio for Bennett, you understand that the Jewish Home is
not the national religious party that is interested in basic issues of
religion and nationality, but a fringe right-wing party.”
Glick’s labelling of Bennett’s party as a right-wing movement will be
seen as ironic in light of his own right-wing history of advocating for
Israeli incursions into the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem, in violation
of the status quo agreement with Jordan. In September, Glick led a group
of 117 extremist Israelis into Al-Aqsa to perform prayers at the site,
accompanied by Israeli police forces.
Yet other members of the establishment have come out in support of
Bennett, including Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel. The Jewish Home MK
supported his party leader, telling Arutz Sheva that: “Prime Minister
Netanyahu should appoint Minister Bennett as defence minister and this
government can continue to function. I think there is an advantage in
stability, of course assuming that Bennett will bring security policy to
a much better place.”
“To the right-wingers who want a forceful approach, I say – pressure the
prime minister to appoint Bennett as defence minister and I think they
will see that forcefulness very quickly,” Ariel added, in a nod to the
anger among many Israelis that a ceasefire was imposed as opposed to a
further bombardment of the already-besieged Gaza Strip.
Hoping to capitalise on the quickly-splintering coalition, Israel’s
opposition parties are calling for elections to be held imminently.
Speaking yesterday at a joint press conference, chairman of the
centre-left Zionist Union party Avi Gabbay and opposition leader Tzipi
Livni called for immediate elections since “the country could no longer
be left in the hands of the coalition”, the Times of Israel reported.
Gabbay explained: “Today is a day of hope. A day in which the political
cynicism between Netanyahu and Liberman explodes. A day in which the
cynicism collapses in on itself and brings disintegration. I call for
elections now. There is no other solution.”
Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon – who is also head of the
centrist Kulanu party –joined the opposition in calling for elections,
telling Netanyahu that: “As things stand, the best thing for the
citizens of Israel and the Israeli economy is to hold elections as soon
as possible.” Kahlon added that he thought this would be “the most
responsible course of action”.
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