Talks between the Likud and the Jewish Home parties took place on Tuesday but no solution was found, Ynet reports. The bone of contention is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s agreement to hand over the Religious Affairs Ministry to Shas.
On Tuesday night, Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett convened his faction and asked members to back him in negotiations with Netanyahu, whatever outcome they may bring. The MKs published a statement expressing their full support of Bennett.
Netanyahu has until midnight tomorrow to send President Reuven Rivlin a message as to whether he has succeeded or failed in establishing a coalition. Tomorrow’s deadline is already the second one — after an extension of two weeks — and, according to Israeli law, even the president cannot legally extend the deadline further.
Since Netanyahu would have a slim 61-MK majority with Jewish Home, Bennett essentially holds the power to make or break a Netanyahu-led coalition. Another possibility would be to abandon Jewish Home and try to convince the Zionist Union to join a unity government. Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog, however, has consistently rejected such an option.
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From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
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