MK Peretz calls for Hatnua merger with Labor

Hatnua MK Amir Peretz said on Tuesday that he would rather join a center-left bloc with the Labor Party than see a merger with Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid.

The former environmental minister told Israel Radio that Hatnua leader Tzipi Livni was in talks with both Isaac Herzog of Labor and Lapid, in an effort to create the largest possible bloc in order to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ruling Likud party.

To date, Livni had not yet agreed to a merger with either party, he said.

Asked whether he would agree to a joint list with Lapid, Peretz replied that he would prefer teaming up with Labor.

Peretz served on the the Labor Party list from 1992 to 1999, and from 2005-2012. In the interim, the ex-defense minister founded the One Nation party, which later merged with Labor in 2005. He narrowly beat out Shimon Peres for the party leadership that year. He joined Livni’s Hatnua in 2012, when it was formed.

Peretz resigned from his ministerial post in early November over the budget with a vow that he would work to remove Netanyahu from his position.

In his interview Tuesday, Peretz said that he had proposed a plan to exempt sales taxes from basic food staples, a proposal Netanyahu raised on Monday as his own, but the prime minister had rejected the plan.

On Monday, Netanyahu vowed to completely remove the value-added tax on certain food products “under the supervision” of the government, the benefits of which “will reach millions of people.”

According to Haaretz, Herzog plans to present a Labor-Hatnua merger agreement to the Labor party by next week for approval.

“The agreement is not final, but Herzog aims to complete it in the coming days,” a source in the Labor party said. “It’s possible we’ll need a few more days to formulate the understandings, but the goal is to present the document as soon as next week.”

Several reports over the weekend indicated that Livni was more inclined to partner with Herzog’s Labor Party, and was on the verge of sealing a deal, but Yesh Atid sources told Israel Radio that they consider those reports not final.

A poll aired on the Knesset Channel on Monday showed that a center-left alliance of Labor and Hatnua could garner more votes than Likud in the next elections.

According to the poll, a joint Herzog-Livni list would receive 23 seats, compared to Likud’s 21. If the two ran separately, Hatnua would not pass the electoral threshold and Labor would only receive 17 seats

On Monday, Lapid said his party would lead the centrist bloc in the next government.

Lapid’s comments underlined the friction in the center and center-left of Israeli politics, where Labor leader Herzog is also seeking to lead a unified bloc of parties. “It’s time to put egos away, and find the framework to work together as a big bloc, with a particularly big Labor party,” Herzog said in the Knesset Monday. He predicted that Labor would emerge on top after the March 17 elections, and “we’ll lead the country to a better future.”

Hours earlier, Lapid had declared, “Yesh Atid will lead the center bloc. We will connect with other parties to replace the current leadership and continue with full force, exactly from the place where we stopped. Everything is ready. Everything is already on the table. Everything can be restarted,” Lapid said.

Lapid and Livni were scheduled to meet Monday to discuss a possible union between their two parties.

On Friday, reports surfaced that Kadima party leader Shaul Mofaz was set to join the Labor Party.

The NRG news site reported that Mofaz had met with the Labor chief, who promised him a place in the top five spots on the party list. According to reports, Mofaz demanded another spot on the list for a candidate of his choice, but did not receive it.

An agreement is expected to be signed soon. Mofaz is a former IDF chief of the General Staff, who previously served as a defense minister in the Likud party.