http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com “The Lapid-Bennett bloc would advise Peres which Likud MK they would support to form the government. For the sake of the country and the Likud party, that MK would accept the task,” said Dr. Lerner. In January, Mr. Lapid told reporters he expected to succeed Mr. Netanyahu as prime minister within “18 months.” In February, Mr. Lapid apologized for the remark. According to several polls, about 76 percent of Israeli voters want Mr. Netanyahu to serve as prime minister. Messrs Bennett and Lapid agree, but they want Mr. Netanyahu to serve on their terms. Those terms do not include Israelistyle politics-as-usual, in which conflicting promises are given to various parties in hopes that somehow a coalition can be formed. Cobbling Together That seemed to be the manner in which Mr. Netanyahu began his coalition deliberations, hoping to cobble together a government consisting of some left-wing parties, the hareidim, and perhaps Mr. Bennett at the end. Forming a government in Israel requires securing at least 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. The more seats a prime minister manages to bring in, the more he is protected against excessive demands from coalition partners who can threaten to bolt, thus toppling the government. Rather than initiating coalition talks with those who would seem to be Likud’s natural partners, such as Mr. Bennett, Mr. Netanyahu began with the Israeli left. It was a snub Mr. Bennett would not forget, and one Mr. Netanyahu may very well regret. Shelly Yachimovich, chairwoman of Labor, which won 15 seats, called her meeting with Mr. Netanyahu “interesting.” But, despite some pressure from more seasoned Labor MKs, including Binyamin (Fouad) Ben-Eliezer and Yitzchak Herzog, she turned down Mr. Netanyahu overtures, saying she was not prepared to be his “contractor.” Mr. Netanyahu’s attempt with the far-left Meretz party also ended in failure. Mr. Netanyahu’s initial meetings with Yesh Atid went no better, especially when Mr. Lapid made clear he would not join unless hareidi service in the IDF becomes mandatory. Mr. Lapid also told the Likud negotiators he would not sit in a coalition that included either Shas or UTJ.
March 2013/Nissan 5773
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
Because they, too, have formed a bloc, Shas and UTJ control 18 seats, which Mr. Netanyahu was not about to dismiss. Confronting a Team Shortly after that meeting, Mr. Netanyahu had another problem: Messrs Bennett and Lapid, with the apparent approval of their MK lists, formed their agreement to work as a bloc. This meant that while Mr. Bennett was not opposed to sitting in a coalition which included the hareidim, he would not join Mr. Netanyahu without Mr. Lapid, who refused to sit with the ultra-Orthodox factions. The numbers were not adding up for Mr. Netanyahu, who made clear his determination to include the hareidim as
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he has in every coalition he has headed. Likud, Jewish Home, and Yesh Atid would give him sixty-two seats, but it would also have made Mr. Netanyahu hostage to any of their demands. The hareidim’s eighteen seats would have boosted him to a very comfortable eighty-seat total. By the time Mr. Netanyahu finally got to Jewish Home, the pact between Messrs Bennett and Lapid was secured and even the offer of top ministerial slots was insufficient to split them apart. Important Ministries According to reports, Mr. Bennett’s Jewish Home was offered the Education Ministry, Ministry of Religious Affairs, a
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