The Likud has made numerous offers for Yamina to join the coalition government even as intensive negotiations with Blue and White were ongoing, Yamina officials told Israel Hayom.
According to the officials, a source close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered Yamina the Defense Ministry and the Justice Ministry. Insisting their goal was to oust the premier from office, Yamina officials said that they refused the Likud's offer. Asked about the report, Likud officials denied the claims, calling them "nonsense."
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Likud officials told Israel Hayom it was their assessment Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn was trying to torpedo understandings being forged between Blue and White and the Likud. They said Nissenkorn's conduct was a sign he was set to leave Blue and White for Labor and that he would join forces with Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party down the line.
In the meantime, a potential compromise between Likud and Blue and White that could help Israelis avoid voting for the fourth time in two years appears to be on the table. Israel Hayom has learned that both parties have apparently agreed to postpone the date for passing a state budget to the end of January. At the same time, Blue and White officials emphasized they would not agree to a postponement of the rotation deal. Party officials said that if the state budget deadline wasn't moved back and as a result, the government was dissolved, Blue and White head Benny Gantz would serve as prime minister until the next election.
In a joint statement, Gantz, Nissenkorn, and fellow party member Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said, "The media discourse is false and does not reflect the conduct of Blue and White. Internal wars are reserved for other parties. We act in unison to achieve the principles of Blue and White. We will not compromise on the existence of a functioning government, through maintaining democracy and the mechanisms of the rule of law and ensuring a state budget that handles the economic corona [outbreak]. Any report or "spin" invented by stakeholders is the opinion of the reporter only. Enough with the lies."
If the 2020 state budget isn't passed by Tuesday at midnight, Israel will head to an election for the fourth time in two years on March 22.
Despite talks being held with Blue and White over the weekend, a senior Likud official told Israel Hayom, "We're pessimistic."
"Nissenkorn put spokes in the wheels and is doing everything to ensure negotiations fail and to take down Gantz," the official said, "The chances of an agreement with Blue and White have gone from 5% to 30%. Gantz is interested in an agreement, but the biggest obstacle is reducing Nissenkorn's authority. The way things look, if there is an agreement, the Knesset will legislate a law to push back the last date for approving the 2020 budget by a month."
As Israel Hayom reported in October, Blue and White officials confirmed Sunday night they would be willing to put off the deadline for submitting the 2020 budget a bit in return for a clear framework that prevents Netanyahu from having clear options for calling another election. This willingness seemingly contradicts Gantz's post to Facebook, Friday, in which he asserted, "I led Blue and White and I established a unity government with Netanyahu because of the corona pandemic and the pandemic of division, and we will remain in the government only if it acts to eradicate both. There will be no compromises."
Both sides have only two days left to try and avoid another election and absent any progress to that end, both parties appear to be issuing statements they will be hard-pressed to walk back later on. The Likud has demanded Nissenkorn either be ousted from the Justice Ministry or be given less authority in his role as justice minister. Blue and White has said there is no chance they will allow that to happen. The Likud has also demanded the rotation deal be postponed, something Blue and White also opposes.
Four Possibilities
Blue and White opposes the Likud's demands in principle, but they continue to insist the state budget be approved, even after the deadline for doing so has been approved. Likewise, there are appointments that have been stalled. Over the next two days, we will learn for certain what direction the Knesset is headed. One possibility is that Likud and Blue and White reach an agreement on the budget and elections are pushed pack by a few months, but the chances of this happening are slim to none.
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A second option would see the Likud succeed in convincing Yamina head Naftali Bennett to join the coalition.
Another option would see the 2020 state budget approved by Tuesday at midnight, something that would send Israel to another election. The chances of this happening are quite high.
The final option, the chances of which are particularly low, is for legislation to dissolve the Knesset to pass the first reading in the Knesset, Monday, and later the second and third readings, and elections to be held on a date to be agreed upon by the different factions.
At the same as Likud and Blue and White are in talks on passing the state budget, an initiative to approve legislation to dissolve the Knesset and move toward an election is moving forward. While the bill passed the first reading, Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin has been in no rush to bring it for Knesset approval in the plenum.
A senior Blue and White official said a debate in the Knesset plenum was postponed because "the Likud opposes decreasing campaign funding and the transparency requirement on social networks." It is Levin's hope that by Tuesday at midnight a compromise on the state budget will be reached and the elections can be pushed off by a few months.
