Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett warns right-wing voters in a Facebook post that Likud wishes to build a coalition with Zionist Union and without Jewish Home.
“The mask is off,” Bennett writes, perhaps in a reference to the Jewish holiday of Purim, “In Likud they want to establish a government with Buji [Isaac Herzog]/Tzipi [Livni], without Jewish Home. Share, so they won’t lead us on.”
Naftali Bennett speaks at a conference in Tel Aviv, on February 24, 2015. (photo credit: Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
“This happened also last time around,” Bennett continues. “Likud took in Tzipi (with 6 Knesset seats only!) and tried to keep us out. Only a large Jewish Home will force Likud into a government without the left.”
On Thursday morning, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who is running in the seventh slot on the Likud list, said on Army Radio that Likud “was not overruling the possibility of unity [with Zionist Union], but will not agree to a rotational agreement on the role of prime minister.”
The Likud reaction is published by Ynet:
There will be no unity government and there is no possibility of establishing one. Likud led by Netanyahu will not establish a government with a party where top candidates distance themselves from the value of Zionism and from the national anthem ‘Hatikva,’ where some members call for not serving in the IDF, and where the leaders are willing to divide Jerusalem. Prime Minister Netanyahu will turn to our natural partners, mostly Jewish Home, to establish a national government – but in order to do this we need a large Likud. Only a large Likud will prevent a left government.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel