Coalition talks sputter as parties clamor for top posts

Negotiations for the formation of a new governing coalition got off to a rocky start this week, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s prospective partners angling for outsize influence.

One such party is Jewish Home, whose leader, Naftali Bennett, railed against Netanyahu on Wednesday, accusing the prime minister of treating him and his constituents like “suckers” by refusing to grant his demand for either the foreign affairs or defense ministership.

The hawkish Jewish Home is seen as a close ally of Netanyahu’s Likud party, but a lackluster showing in the elections — eight Knesset seats, down from 12 — has left it in an inferior bargaining position.

“The prime minister is building on the assumption that our public are suckers,” Bennett told a Jewish Home party activist event Wednesday in a recording obtained by Israel Radio. According to leaks from the coalition talks, Netanyahu has offered Bennett the post of education minister, which is perceived as a demotion from his current position, economy minister, and a far cry from the prestigious defense and foreign affairs portfolios.

“Is it set in stone that [Shas party leader] Aryeh Deri will get the Interior Ministry? Is it set in stone that Shas will run roughshod over us in the religious domain?” Bennett asked. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party, which won seven seats in the election, is reportedly slated to receive both the interior and religious affairs ministries.

“Everything’s set in stone except for the Jewish Home, because we have values,” he said. Bennett was alluding to polls indicating that his party had bled several seats to Likud on Election Day, as voters rallied to shore up Netanyahu in the face of a perceived threat of a left-wing government rising to power.

Given the rickety nature of Israel’s electoral system, Netanyahu must cobble together a coalition comprising smaller parties by offering cabinet positions — including, possibly, senior ministerships — to factions whose support he requires if he is to cement a Knesset majority. Lawmakers within his own Likud party have also demanded top jobs, citing the party’s 30 seats, which make it the largest faction by far.

The game of give-and-take could prove difficult for Netanyahu because of opposing inter-party interests and ideologies, as well as steep demands for ministerial posts.

Bennett, at Wednesday’s party event, claimed that during two closed-door meetings with the prime minister, he received no substantial offers. He hinted that he would predicate his entry into a coalition on a senior cabinet portfolio, such as defense or foreign affairs, the latter of which has reportedly been vouchsafed to the serving foreign minister, Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman.

“They say that if we insist on a senior position [in the coalition], it will lead to a national unity government. They [Likud] will try blame us for it and it’s an absolute lie. If Netanyahu wants a national unity government, then there will be a national unity government,” Bennett said, referring to a hypothetical maneuver that would see Likud reach across the aisle to the left-wing Zionist Union party. The leader of Zionist Union, Isaac Herzog, has so far ruled out such a partnership.

Moshe Kahlon, leader of the 10-seat Kulanu party, has also upped his demands, pressing Netanyahu for the housing and environmental protection ministries, in addition to the already-promised Finance Ministry post. He has also requested the chairmanship of the powerful Knesset Finance Committee, encroaching on the territory of another likely Netanyahu coalition partner, the United Torah Judaism party.

“Kulanu will continue to insist on obtaining the tools necessary to implement reforms to tackle cost-of-living and housing issues,” a party functionary said Wednesday.

But a senior Likud official warned Kahlon that if he continued to play hardball in coalition talks, Netanyahu would put negotiations with Kulanu on the back burner and shift focus to Yisrael Beynenu and the ultra-Orthodox parties.

“We wanted the Kulanu party to be the first faction with which we sign [a coalition agreement],” the official told Haaretz Wednesday. “It’s only natural that Moshe Kahlon, who is slated to be finance minister, will be involved in our economic [policy negotiations] with other parties. But the Kulanu negotiating team apparently doesn’t understand this and is showing no flexibility in its demands,” he said.

Netanyahu has until May 7 to present his coalition to President Reuven Rivlin, with an option to extend talks by an additional two weeks.

Daniel Bernstein contributed to this report.