MK: Likud offered Smotrich’s, Ben Gvir’s portfolios to Yesh Atid but insisted parties stay in government

After Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s repeated remarks this week that he is willing to enter the government to provide a “safety net” for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bypass opposition from his far-right allies, a member of Lapid’s Yesh Atid party says the ruling Likud has made a concrete offer on the matter.

MK Merav Ben-Ari tells Radio 103FM that she has met Likud’s Justice Minister Yariv Levin and received an offer for Yesh Atid to get the ministerial portfolios currently held by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

However, Levin insisted that Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party and Smotrich’s Religious Zionism stay in the government, Ben-Ari says.

“I didn’t even go to Lapid after that offer,” she adds. “I said there’s no chance Lapid will sit in a government with Ben Gvir and Smotrich.”