Yamina members are split about what to do if the party winds up in a position to complete a coalition for Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, who currently holds the mandate to form a government.

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While Yamina members close to party chairman Naftali Bennett are still saying that Bennett has not gone back on his decision during Operation Guardian of the Walls to drop the option of joining a unity government with other anti-Netanyahu factions, other party officials have been hinting in the past few days that the door to a Lapid government is still open.

Bennett's staff say that since his announcement that he had stopped negotiations with Lapid, the two have not been in contact, nor have their staffers. Bennett's staff say he is determined not to form a government with left-wing parties, or with any Arb party.

Still, other senior members of Yamina are sending different signals. These officials say that while they would certainly prefer a right-wing government, if Lapid fails to form a government and loses the mandate next week, the result would be a fifth election. If that appears likely, they say, negotiations between Bennett and Lapid could still re-launch at the eleventh hour.

Meanwhile, Yamina No. 2 Ayelet Shaked continues to push for a right-wing government, and is reportedly pressing New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar and various other right-wing politicians to join a government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and prevent another election. However, as of Wednesday morning, Shaked has not been successful.

The prevailing assessment is that if Bennett ultimately decides to join a unity government, Shaked will not split the party or abstain from voting.

On Monday, Yamina officials reported that they had received a message from the Likud that in the case that a right-wing government could not be formed and the Knesset would have to be dissolved yet again, Netanyahu would be willing to reserve eight places on the Likud list for Yamina members.

Likud officials said that Netanyahu would find it difficult to reserve more than four or five places on the list for Yamina members, as Likud members would resist having so many set aside for members of another list.

The Likud denied that Yamina had been offered any reserved places on the party list. Yamina did not respond to the report.

Meanwhile, in another political development, Lapid has reportedly completed negotiations with Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman to join a unity government under his leadership.

According to officials involved in the talks, Lapid and Lieberman agreed that if Lapid forms a government, Lieberman would be appointed finance minister. In addition, an MK from Yisrael Beytenu would be appointed chair of the Knesset Finance Committee, which thus far has been controlled by the Haredi factions, and Yisrael Beytenu would be assigned two more ministerial portfolios, including the Negev and Galilee Development Ministry.

"In negotiations we agreed on the fundamentals of a government," representatives of the two party leaders said, adding that Lapid and Lieberman had also agreed on a need to pass a law to launch national projects as a growth engine, to include two new hospitals to be built in the Negev and the Galilee, an airport at Nevatim, and a light rail.

Negotiations also settled on a guaranteed minimum old-age pension that would stand at 70% of the minimum wage.

Representatives of the two leaders also said that agreements had been reached about "religion and state," but did not provide details.

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The idea of a government to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has collapsed. Negotiating teams for Netanyahu's Likud party and Yamina resumed talks on Thursday evening to establish a government with Netanyahu as prime minister, Channel 12 News reported.

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In closed meetings, Yamina leader Naftali Bennett reported said that a government to replace Netanyahu in "the planned format" would not be able to cope with the state of civilian emergency in Israel's mixed cities. Bennett was referring to the key role that Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas was poised to play in the formation of said government.

"We need power, to send in the army, and arrests. Things that cannot be done when we depend on Mansour Abbas," Bennett said.

Bennett told Israel Hayom that during security emergencies, Israel needed a "broad government."

Officials close to Yamina's negotiating team told Israel Hayom that Yamina No. 2 Ayelet Shaked had not received the justice portfolio, and had therefore forced Bennett to capitulate. According to the officials, Bennett had agreed to a Likud offer to serve as defense minister, while Shaked would be appointed foreign minister. Yamina would also receive eight reserved places in the Likud top 40 slots in the next election, they said.

Bennett informed Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, who currently has the mandate to form a government and was willing to allow Bennett to serve first in a two-year rotation for prime minister, of his intention to drop plans to form a government with Yesh Atid and the rest of the anti-Netanyahu factions only shortly before the move was made public.

"I understand the distress, but Bennett is making a mistake," Lapid said at a press conference Thursday night.

"You don't make change when it's convenient. Anyone who waits for the right time will discover that it never arrives. Change is made when you believe that it's the right thing to do. When you believe that your path is the right one," he said.

"I have no intention of giving up. I will continue to do everything to form a government in the next few weeks. There are still 20 days left in the mandate, and in political terms, that's an eternity. We will continue to fight and if we don't succeed, we will hold the most unnecessary and dangerous elections in the history of Israel, and we will win.

"This is the time, this time of chaos and threat, we need to form a government. The situation will not change if we don't change it," Lapid said.

Meanwhile, the Likud welcomed Bennett back.

"I congratulate Naftali Bennett for taking the option of a dangerous left-wing government off the table," said Likud faction chairman Miki Zohar, adding that Bennett had demonstrated "responsibility and leadership."

"This is the time for the entire right-wing camp to unite and form a national government that will protect the citizens of Israel and the soldiers of the IDF. I call on [New Hope leader] Gideon Sa'ar – come and form a right-wing government. Today," Zohar said.

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Work to assemble the next government continued Friday morning as Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, who was assigned the mandate to form a government by President Reuven Rivlin, Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, and New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar met at Lapid's home.

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The Friday meeting came after Lapid and Bennett met long into the night on Thursday to discuss ministerial appointments after Lapid said he believed in the good intentions of his future coalition partners and vowed a government under his leadership would take Israel out of the crisis.

The work to plan an alternative government began long before Rivlin gave Lapid the mandate. While there is broad agreement about some of the appointments, others will have to be discussed by the various parties that have backed the Lapid government.

As of Friday, it appears that Bennett would be serving first in a two-year rotation for prime minister, followed by Lapid.

Other proposed portfolio assignments include Blue and White leader Benny Gantz as defense minister, the position he currently holds and which he insists on retaining, and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman as Finance Minister.

New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar could be made either defense or justice minister, but the justice portfolio could also go to Yamina No. 2 and former justice minister Ayelet Shaked. Alternatively, Shaked could be assigned the Interior Ministry portfolio, which sources close to Shaked say she would prefer.

MK Matan Kahana (Yamina) is likely to be assigned the religious affairs portfolio, and MK Yifat Shasha-Biton (New Hope) the education portfolio. There is little dissent about these appointment.

Yesh Atid MK Karin Elharar is a leading candidate for the communications portfolio, Labor MK Omer Barlev could receive the energy portfolio, and Labor leader Merav Michaeli could be assigned either health or public security. Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz is a candidate for those same two ministries.

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The transportation, culture and sports, and agriculture portfolios have not yet been assigned, and multiple candidates from all the parties in the coalition are interested.

Bennett, Shaked, and Sa'ar all want to reduce the number of ministers in the cabinet. Lapid wanted the number of ministers to be limited to 18, but it appears that he might have to compromise on 23-24, which would still be far fewer than the number serving in current emergency government

Israel Hayom has learned that some ministries will be shut down: namely the Water Ministry, the Higher Education Ministry, the Community Affairs Ministry, the Settlement Affairs Ministry, and possibly the Cyber and Digital Affairs Ministry, as well.

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Leader of the Arab Ra'am party MK Mansour Abbas is inclined to refrain from recommending any candidate to receive the mandate to form the next government when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's time runs out at midnight Tuesday, Israel Hayom has learned.

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However, officials in Ra'am said that a decision to recommend one candidate or another might be made after a round of telephone consultations.

However, members of the Joint Arab List, from which Ra'am split prior to the March 23 Knesset election, were worried that Ra'am has closed a deal with the Likud to recommend Yamina leader Naftali Bennett and prevent the mandate from being handed to Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid.

A high-ranking official in the Joint Arab List told Israel Hayom that "there is no chance we will recommend Bennett. Most of the Joint List MKs want to recommend Yair Lapid, but the decision will be made, again, at the last minute. If Lapid doesn't have enough recommendations to receive the mandate – we will abstain."

Members of the Joint Arab List are angry at Abbas. The Hadash party put out a message saying that "What is most important is to fight fascism and Jewish supremacy, not give into them."

The Hadash message condemned statements by Abbas that the party said were "designed to be accepted by the radical settler fascist Right … to accept it [Ra'am] as a partner in a government to rescue Netanyahu."

"Hadash rejects MK Abbas' stance that denies the right of the Palestinian people to oppose the occupation and the settlements, and condemns it as 'violence and terrorism.' We oppose any attacks on civilians, and support the right of the Palestinian people to fight the greatest terrorism, which is the occupation."

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Yamina leader Naftali Bennett and Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas met Wednesday morning in Bennett's office in the Knesset to discuss the positions of their two parties given the current political situation.

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Both described the meeting as "good."

The two party leaders decided to sit down given the uncertainty about whether President Reuven Rivlin would give the mandate to form a government to Bennett or Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unable to form a government.

According to political officials, Rivlin is unlikely to grant Netanyahu an extension once the original 28-day mandate runs out.

Meanwhile, the Religious Zionist Party launched a campaign Wednesday morning urging Yamina not to join any government that rets on the Arab parties.

"Bennett, a government with [Mansour] Abbas is a government with Hamas," one of the messages read.

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Yamina leader Naftali Bennett has declared that he will do everything he can to see a right-wing government formed, but fellow members of the right-wing bloc are claiming that Bennett would not be sorry if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fails to form a government, which would pave the way for Bennett to form one with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Gideon Sa'ar of New Hope.

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In a Whatsapp group used by heads of right-wing parties, Yamina treasurer Ariel Sela posted a clip from the Ulpan Shishi news show in which host Rina Matzliach claims fervently that the bloc comprising Lapid, Sa'ar, and Benny Gantz was effectively made up of right-wingers, and could not be called "left-wing."

Sela captioned the clip: "Great. Share," and the right-wing bloc is furious. Sources in the bloc told Israel Hayom: "Why is it important for an activist from Yamina, which like they claim wants to form a government with the Right, to send out a clip that says the other bloc isn't 'left-wing'? It looks like someone is preparing the ground to join them, and claim that it's not a left-wing bloc. There can be no other reason."

According to the sources, "If Naftali Bennett really wanted to form a right-wing government, he would announce that it's either a right-wing government or a fifth election, and then all the pressure would move to Sa'ar, Benny Gantz, or others. When Bennett leaves the door open, as he said in his meeting with Netanyahu, to join the other side if Netanyahu can't form a government, he gives them hope that another alternative exists. Bennett is not only not helping to form a government, he is trying to stop a right-wing government from being formed."

Yamina said in response to these claims that "On Sunday, talks between members of the bloc to find solutions continued, without any progress."

Meanwhile, the Religious Zionist list (made up of the National Union, Otzma Yehudit, and Noam parties) continued to insist they would oppose any cooperation with the Islamist Ra'am party. MK Itmar Ben-Gvir stated in a Twitter post that "A government supported by Mansour Abbas has no right to exist."

Ben-Gvir's fellow party member Avi Maoz, leader of Noam, said, "I will vote only for a government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, without a rotation and without a mutation."

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Maoz said there were two reasons for his position: "First, recognizing the good the prime minister has done working for the country, in stopping the COVID pandemic, and strengthening us diplomatically, economically, and in terms of security. Anyone who is ungrateful for the good his friend does ultimately is ungrateful for the good of a place. This is a major tenet of Judaism.

"Second, in the most direct expression of the will of the people expressed in the last election, only Netanyahu as head of the Likud won 25% of the votes! So no rotation, and no to another Likud MK forming the government," Maoz said.

On Sunday, Shas leader Arye Deri spoke to the Haredi radio station Radio Kol Chai and discussed attempts by the right-wing bloc to form a government.

"It's hard for me to see Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, and Zeev Elkin forming a government," Deri said. "Netanyahu will not pave the way for any left-wing government. They are planning a fully left-wing government. It's hard for me to believe they'll put all their right-wing ideology into it."

On Sunday, Israel Hayom reported that the right-wing bloc has made Deri responsible for on Sa'ar.

Deri said when interviewed that "Bennett demanding to be prime minister with seven mandates isn't democratic, it's a campaign. We have nine mandates, and we aren't asking for the prime minister's seat. It doesn't make sense. I'm in touch with Sa'ar, and I've spoken to him some, and he's a worthy man. I'll have more in-depth talks with him going forward."

"Bennett and Sa'ar's voters want a right-wing government. Most of the public decided they are in favor of a right-wing government," Deri said.

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In a round of meetings Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held with members of the right-wing bloc these past few days, various possibilities for forming a right-wing government were raised.

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Among other options, party leaders discussed the need to find a creative solution to National Religious party leader Bezalel Smotrich's opposition to joining a government that would be dependent on Ra'am and the need to pressure members of New Hope and other parties in an attempt to persuade them to detach themselves from those lists and join a Netanyahu government.

But Israel Hayom has learned that another idea was floated as a sort of "last resort." Although Netanyahu said during the campaign that he would not agree to serve as prime minister in a rotation, he might be forced to agree to a rotation with Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, who would take the first turn as prime minister, with Netanyahu in the role of alternate prime minister. This position is allowed under a law that was changed to bring Benny Gantz into the current government as alternate prime minister.

Political officials have reportedly run this scenario by New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar, who has agreed to enter a government under that format, without Netanyahu as prime minister.

A few conditions would have to be met for this option to be implemented. First, Netanyahu has refused to a two-year rotation, and as of Friday it was still unclear for what period of time he would be willing to see Bennett serve as prime minister. However, the very fact that Netanyahu is willing to consider any rotation is a major change.

Second, Netanyahu's Likud party would demand that should the Supreme Court rule against Netanyahu being allowed to serve as prime minister, Bennett would step down and allow Netanyahu to head the government.

Third, Netanyahu and his family would remain in the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem for the entire period the government is in power, even when he is not prime minister. Bennett is expected to agree to this condition, and will continue living in his own home in Raanana. The Likud has not responded to this report. According to Sa'ar, "No such proposal has been made."

Meanwhile, sources close to Netanyahu have raised the possibility that as a last-ditch answer, another Likud member might serve as prime minister to persuade Sa'ar to join the coalition.

On Thursday night, Netanyahu met with both Smotrich and Bennett.

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Prior to the meeting, Bennett said, "Since the election, countless Israelis have reached out to me, asking, really begging, me to pull Israel out of the ongoing chaos. I am here with a lot of good will and I am committed to doing what I can to rescue Israel from the chaos and form a good, stable government. This is the time for national responsibility."

After the meeting, the Likud and Yamina issued a joint statement: "The meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yamina leader Naftali Bennett is over. It was conducted in good spirit and a positive atmosphere. They agreed to meet again."

Earlier Thursday, Joint Arab List Chairman Ayman Odeh ruled out joining a coalition under Netanyahu, which will make it more difficult for the anti-Netanyahu bloc to replace the prime minister.

Speaking to the Arabic radio station Nas, Odeh said, "We will in no circumstances agree to support or allow the establishment of a government under Naftali Bennett," and added "We won't replace a racist with a racist."

Speaking to the Haredi news site Kikar Hashabbat on Thursday, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit, Itamar Ben-Gvir was asked if he would oppose the establishment of a government supported from outside by the Religious Zionist party and the Islamist Ra'am. Ben-Gvir answered that he would not "be a partner in a government like that."

When asked if he would vote against it, Ben-Gvir repeated his unwillingness to be a partner. When asked specifically if he would join the opposition, Ben-Gvir declined to answer.

After Ben-Gvir's remarks in the interview, associates of the prime minister accused Smotrich, who ran on a joint ticket with Otzma Yehudit, of preventing a right-wing government that would have the support of Ra'am.

Smotrich rushed to calm the waters and told Israel Hayom: "Not from outside, not from inside, not maybe, not abstention, not directly and not indirectly. We will vote against any cooperation with [Ra'am leader Mansour] Abbas. Maybe Itamar didn't understand the question, maybe he wanted to coordinate with me, but in any case – there will be no government like that. Full stop."

While all this was unfolding, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid left early Thursday, Holocaust Remembrance Day, for a six-day vacation to the US. He is expected to return on the eve of Independence Day, April 14.

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MK Mansour Abbas' Ra'am party has decided in principle to back a coalition under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while remaining outside it, a senior party official told Israel Hayom.

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According to the official, the decision to provide "outside" support for a coalition led by the prime ministers does not necessarily mean that Ra'am will recommend to President Reuven Rivlin that he tap Netanyahu to form the next government. The official added that the decision to support a Netanyahu-led coalition could change if Ra'am's demands were not met.

The official explained that Ra'am would insist that leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party Itamar Ben-Gvir not be given any operative role or any high-ranking ministerial portfolio in the new government, and that significantly larger budgets are allocated to fight crime in the Arab sector. The party also plans to discuss the cancellation of or major changes to the Nation-State Law.

According to the official, the party decided to support a coalition led by Netanyahu for a few reasons.

"First and foremost, because the bloc to replace Netanyahu doesn't have any serious candidate for prime minister and in a situation like this, a government under [Yair] Lapid, even if it had the support of Ra'am, would be unstable and would collapse not long after it was formed. A government of the Netanyahu bloc, with him as leader, will be more stable and able to help up achieve the goals we have set for Arab society," he said.

The official added that "Even before we [Ra'am] split off from the Joint Arab List, we were excoriated for heading toward political unity, and we proved the opposite when the Arab public gave us the mandate and expressed their faith in the path we proposed. For 30 years we've tried the path of isolationism, and it hasn't gotten us anywhere. It's time for a change."

The anti-Netanyahu bloc is also courting Abbas' party, and he has met with Lapid, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, and Labor leader Merav Michaeli. Meanwhile, certain members of the Netanyahu bloc are opposing a deal with Ra'am, namely Religious Zionist list head Bezalel Smotrich, who is rejecting any coalition established through cooperation with Abbas.

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If Yamina leader Naftali Bennett decides to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, Netanyahu will be able to establish a right-wing government in the current Knesset, Netanyahu said Monday.

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"If we get to 59, we'll get to 61," Netanyahu said, referring to the minimum number of mandates he would need to form a government. The March 23 election resulted in 52 mandates for Netanyahu and seven for Bennett.

Netanyahu did not mention which other MKs from which parties would join the prospective government to give him the crucial 61 mandates.

The prime minister said there were few ways he could see the necessary boost from 59 to 61, but in order not to torpedo negotiations, he would not discuss them.

Netanyahu is concerned that Bennett might join the flank calling for his ouster, under the leadership of Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, and New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar. Netanyahu thinks that those three party leaders will offer Bennett a chance to become prime minister, with the backing of the left-wing parties and the abstention of the Joint Arab List.

On Monday, Netanyahu said in closed-door talks that this scenario would prove that his warnings leading up to the election that Bennett would join the Left were correct.

"Even with Bennett as leader, it wouldn't be a right-wing government, it would be a patched-together left-wing government that won't even last," Netanyahu said.

Meanwhile, Bennett is playing it close to the chest, and as of Monday was still not saying whether he was leaning toward forming a government with the anti-Netanyahu bloc or returning to the right-wing bloc in hope of helping form a government.

Sources close to Bennett denied Netanyahu's claims that the Yamina leader was considering forming a government that would depend on support from the Joint Arab List. Sources said that Netanyahu was in negotiations with former Joint Arab List member MK Mansour Abbas, whose Ra'am party split off and ran separately. The Bennett associates said that Abbas holds "radical nationalist positions" identical to those espoused by members of the Joint Arab List.

As part of the flurry of party meetings and contact on Monday, Abbas met with Lapid, and officials in Ra'am stressed that the party was not ruling out support for "any" candidate.

In the past few days, Ra'am has launched negotiations with the Likud, reportedly brokered by Shas leader Arye Deri.

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Ra'am is not revealing whom it intends to recommend as a candidate to form the next government, and it is possible that the party will abstain from recommending anyone to President Reuven Rivlin when he makes the decision about whom to tap.

Abbas said Monday, "We were and remain consistent the entire time. We are willing to talk to anyone who accepts our principles and will respond to our demands. There is much to do and handle in Arab society, first and foremost increasing crime, and that's what our constituency expects us to do. Therefore, we accept the mandate and the trust of the public who voted for us."

Ra'am is also not ruling out a fifth election as a way to solve the political impasse that has continued for nearly two years. But Abbas associate Ali Salam, mayor of Nazareth, said he thinks that if the choice boils down to a fifth election or supporting a government under Netanyahu, Ra'am would prefer to back a Netanyahu-led coalition.

"If we want to take part in the political game, we need to go with the person who's strongest and in power. A government under Lapid won't last. A government under Netanyahu will. He's the strongest, and we need to go with him," Salam said.

Rivlin is expected to begin consultations with political parties on their preferred candidate to try to form a government on April 5, a spokesman said Monday.

After hearing the parties' recommendations, Rivlin will assign the coalition-building task to one of the candidates by April 7.

While the Likud won the largest number of seats, Rivlin is under no legal obligation to task Netanyahu with putting together a government and can pick another candidate instead on the basis of the parties' recommendations.

Whoever Rivlin nominates will have up to 42 days to try to form an administration before the president assigns the task to someone else. If the second candidate fails, Rivlin can ask parliament to try to choose someone. If that proves unsuccessful, Israel will head into a fifth election.

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A computer system in use by the Likud Party crashed on Election Day, harming the party headquarters' work and reportedly costing Likud at least two seats that could have brought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the 61 he needs to form a government, was over seen by Guy Benartzi, who is the nephew of Netanyahu's wife, Sara.

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Benartzi comes from the startup sector and co-founded Bancor, a company that deals with virtual currency.

Likud officials who were working with the system said the crash comprised a problem of unusual scope. These officials claimed that a few days before the March 23 election, the system had been tested, during which a number of problems were discovered. However, they said, because the person responsible for it was Netanyahu's nephew, officials were hesitant to express their concerns.

One Likud official involved in the computer failure told Israel Hayom that "Benartzi and his partners were responsible for the crash. They espoused pulling out of the Elector app and setting up a completely separate system. A few days before the election, they tested the system – and it crashed."

Other Likud officials confirmed that the system had been tested before March 23 and had worked, with the exception of minor problems "that they told us would be fixed."

These officials said that on the morning of Election Day "there was heavy use and the computer system was operating at 50% capacity until the afternoon. After that, everything worked perfectly."

According to the Likud, the system reported 3.2 million votes for Likud on Election Day, out of a potential 4 million Likud voters, a "knowledge gap" of some 800,000 votes that could in theory have secured more seats for the party.

Apart from the computer issues, sources in the Likud said that the drop in the party's number of seats since the March 2020 election occurred due to the Likud "donating" to Religious Zionist Party list leader Bezalel Smotrich by refraining from public attacked on him, and that other seats had moved from Netanyahu to Gideon Sa'ar and Naftali Benentt.

In recent days, the Likud party leadership has been asking for a probe into the system failure. No such probe has yet been approved.

When approached about the computer problem, the Likud responded in a statement that the party does not comment on campaign activity. "However, we will clarify that despite the claims, all the Likud oversight systems were operating successfully on Election Day," the party said.

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