Yamina leader Naftali Bennett is projecting that as long as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has the president's mandate to form the next government, all his efforts will be geared toward the successful establishment of a coalition, and therefore any talk of an alternative government is irrelevant for the next 28 days. Hence, he has rejected repeated attempts by Yesh Atid Yair Lapid and New Hope chief Gideon Sa'ar to simultaneously negotiate the formation of a coalition that would remove Netanyahu and rely on the left-wing parties.
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Likud officials are livid. It's not enough, say those in Netanyahu's inner circle. As long as Bennett indicates there is still another option, it will not be possible to form a government. Everyone understands that if Netanyahu fails, it will be Bennett's and Lapid's turn to try.
Ayelet Shaked doesn't seem bothered by the criticism. "Our preference is to form a right-wing government," she insists. "The moment Netanyahu received the mandate, we will be doing all we can to help him succeed. This is our first priority." Shaked didn't expand on the type of help Bennett would provide Netanyahu or her party's demands.
Bennett led Netanyahu to understand that in any scenario in which he manages to form a government, he will be able to count on Yamina's votes moving forward, in accordance, of course, with the party's demands being met. If Netanyahu entices defectors, Bennett will be on board. If Netanyahu asks him to join a coalition supported externally by the Arab Ra'am party, Bennett will be on board. Beyond these scenarios, however, it seems Bennett won't bend over backward on behalf of a Netanyahu-led government.
All of Bennett's demands in terms of senior portfolios, merging with the Likud and assuring his activists positions within the movement, will be met. This is what Netanyahu has promised. The only thing that remains off the table, for the time being, is a rotation deal; certainly not one in which Bennett goes first and as of now, not second either.
Once Netanyahu received the president's mandate he outlined his priority list from top to bottom. His first move is to get Smotrich to reconsider his position on external support from Ra'am. Smotrich has maintained that a government reliant on support from Ra'am is a non-starter, and therefore this option doesn't appear feasible from Netanyahu's perspective. The prime minister, however, still hasn't given up hope. In the coming days, he will spend every waking minute trying to persuade Smotrich to be flexible. He will speak with the rabbis, thought leaders in the religious public, key activists in the Religious Zionism party, and will turn over every stone to achieve his goal.
If nothing helps and Smotrich remains obstinate, Netanyahu will try getting Religious Zionism to support the government from the outside. As of now, Smotrich is rejecting this option outright.
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