PM vows wider coalition will pursue peace, holds out hope for Herzog

After snubbing the largest opposition party for the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beytenu, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that he was still holding onto hope that the Zionist Union would decide to join the government.

Netanyahu told his cabinet members that he would not appoint anyone to fill the empty foreign minister chair as he was holding that as a bargaining chip to entice the Zionist Union faction into the coalition, according to several reports.

Netanyahu spokesman David Keyes confirmed to The Times of Israel that Netanyahu would hold onto the post.

Last week Netanyahu shook up Israeli politics by jilting the dovish Zionist Union, which he’d been courting to create a unity government, and striking a deal with hawkish former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman instead.

Zionist Union head Isaac Herzog angrily declared an end to talks, telling the prime minister he needed to choose between him and Liberman, a stance he maintained Sunday.

Asked by Likud ministers Sunday morning why he still held the prestigious Foreign Ministry, Netanyahu explained that “I’m keeping the portfolios as an additional option for further expanding the government and add the Labor Party as well.”

“Keep in mind that this includes not only portfolios, but diplomatic actions as well,” he said.

The Labor Party is the senior member of the Zionist Union faction, which also includes the Hatnua Party.

“A government that is as broad as possible is the best thing for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “I think that a broader coalition will help us meet the many challenges facing us and also take advantage of the opportunities.”

Netanyahu said a broader government which includes Yisrael Beytenu would “continue to strive for a diplomatic process with the Palestinians and we will do so with the assistance of elements in the region.”

As part of the bargain with Yisrael Beytenu, Netanyahu ousted Moshe Ya’alon from the Defense Ministry and was set to give the post to Liberman.

Ya’alon resigned and was to step down formally on Sunday. Negotiations between Yisrael Beytenu and Likud were ongoing, but expected to conclude sometime Sunday.

Netanyahu also wears the hat of Israel’s communications minister, another bargaining chip he could offer opposition parties to join his soon-to-be-66 seat governing coalition.

But Herzog said that ship had sailed.

“At the moment of truth everyone makes his decision. Netanyahu chose Liberman-Bennett, and we chose to fight him,” Herzog said.

The opposition head had faced internal party criticism over holding talks with Netanyahu to join his government, and several MKs called for his ouster as negotiations fell apart last week.

Senior Zionist Union MKs responded to Netanyahu’s statement with disdain, with one saying, “It doesn’t matter what happens in negotiations with Liberman, this episode is behind us,” Ynet reported.

MK Eitan Cabel, a Labor official close to faction chief Herzog, said the deal was over.

“The curtain fell; there’s no chance we’ll join the government,” he said.

Coalition talks between the ruling Likud party and Yisrael Beytenu are slated to continue Sunday, with both parties saying they hope to seal a deal by the afternoon.

Netanyahu fears that dragging out the talks could destabilize his own faction. Many senior Likud ministers believe an overly generous offer to Yisrael Beytenu will lead to new demands from Jewish Home, which holds eight seats as compared to Yisrael Beytenu’s five, now that Orly Levy quit the party, but has settled for less senior posts — education and justice.

If Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett decides to demand the vacant Foreign Ministry, the move would free up the education portfolio — the largest budget after defense — and likely set off a domino effect of demands by Likud leaders to move up the cabinet hierarchy.