Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman will do "everything" to have a Likud member other than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu installed as Likud leader, a senior official in Yisrael Beytenu told Israel Hayom on Wednesday.
According to the official, Likud officials held meetings among themselves as well as with Lieberman to prepare for a scenario in which Tuesday's election would result in a tie between the right-wing and left-wing blocs. These meetings discussed possible ways of ousting Netanyahu and making another Likud MK party head, and thereby responsible for assembling the next government, the official said.
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However, on Tuesday night, many senior Likud members were reiterating their loyalty to Netanyahu, including Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Zeev Elkin, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev, Economy Minister Eli Cohen, and Coalition Chairman MK David Amsalem.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely and MK Yoav Kisch also expressed public support for Netanyahu.
On Wednesday morning, Lieberman spoke to reporters outside his home and discussed the near-final election results, according to which neither the Right nor the Left had secured the 61 seats necessary for a coalition government. With a projected nine seats for Yisrael Beytenu, pending the announcement of the final results, Lieberman could wind up being the person who decides who will assemble the next government.
"There is only one option – a national unity government," Lieberman said.
"We don't need any other option. We won't sit [in a coalition] with the Arabs, that's absurd. Everyone needs to understand that it's a shame to waste time debating and exerting pressure. We need to get onto one path, as quickly as possible – a path of national unity," Lieberman declared.
