Herzog holds first meeting with PM as opposition head

Israel can’t avoid dealing with the Palestinian issue any longer and the Labor Party will back the government if it chooses to make a historic deal, newly elected Labor Party chairman Isaac Herzog told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday.

It was their first meeting since Herzog won the helm of the party and became the opposition leader.

Foreign policy issues were at the top of the agenda, with the recent interim pact between Iran and six world powers and Palestinian peace talks dominating the meeting, according to a statement by Herzog’s office.

Also present at the meeting was Netanyahu’s military attache, Eyal Zamir.

The opposition leader called Netanyahu’s decision to publicly oppose the US stance on reaching an interim deal with Iran “a mistake,” and called on the prime minister to work to repair ties with Washington, and help shape a final agreement that the sides are now working on.

On Sunday, Iran and the six world powers signed a six-month pact that eased some sanctions in return for curbs on nuclear enrichment and more intrusive international oversight. A permanent deal is currently in the works.

Netanyahu had lobbied furiously against the deal, widening a rift with the US over the nuclear issue and leading to a verbal spat with Secretary of State John Kerry. After speaking to US President Barack Obama on Sunday, Netanyahu announced he would be sending a team of advisers to Washington to relay Israeli concerns over Iran’s nuclear program.

On Monday, Herzog criticized Netanyahu for sowing “unnecessary panic,” on the Iran deal.

“This is an interim agreement; it isn’t Judgment Day, which hasn’t arrived yet,” he told Channel 10.

Herzog, who has rejected calls to join the coalition, also promised to back the prime minister should Israel make a move toward peace with the Palestinians, a statement he has made in the past.

His predecessor, Shelly Yachimovich, had said Labor could join to keep the coalition together if the nationalist Jewish Home party decamped in the wake of a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

According to Herzog’s office, the two also discussed the economic slowdown and unemployment rate.

By law, the prime minister and opposition leader must meet several times a year to discuss issues critical to the country.

Earlier in the day, Herzog met with former British prime minister Tony Blair, the international Quartet’s Middle East envoy, to discuss Iran and the Palestinians.

Herzog, once thought to be a dark horse, won the chairmanship of the Labor Party last week after beating out Yachimovich in a primary election.