Likud MKs split over whether Ra’am can be part of next government

Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party tells the Kan public broadcaster that Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas “will definitely not be part of the government.”

He says that if the pro-Netanyahu bloc ends up not getting the necessary 61-seat majority, “we are heading to fifth elections.”

However, there is no unanimous agreement on the matter within the ruling party. In a separate interview with Channel 12 news, Likud MK Tzachi Hanegbi says that “in the current situation, we view Mansour Abbas as a potential possibility [for coalition partner].”

In response, Likud MK Shlomo Karhi tweets: “Absolutely not!”

But coalition whip and Likud faction chairman Miki Zohar says in a tweet: “It is our duty to do everything, and I mean everything, to prevent fifth elections. We must exhaust all available political options to form a government that will work for the citizens of Israel, because that is what is currently important to our country.”