Yisrael Beytenu says it will propose a coalition if the big parties don’t

Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman tells leaders of his party that a new election, the third in a single year, “won’t meaningfully change the political map, so we have to find a smart solution, and to put all personal considerations and ego aside.”

Liberman says he still clings to the hope that Likud and Blue and White will manage to sort out their differences and form a unity government, but adds: “If by Yom Kippur [which begins the evening of October 8] we don’t see a breakthrough, Yisrael Beytenu will come to the two factions with a proposal of its own,” according to a statement from the party.

“In any case, after Yom Kippur the whole coalition building process will go into high gear,” Liberman promises.

He adds that he plans to speak to the heads of Blue and White and Likud tomorrow, when they will all be gathered together in Jerusalem for the 22nd Knesset’s swearing-in ceremony.