Israel Matzav: Likud says Lapid won't sit in coalition with Haredim

Friday, March 01, 2013

Likud says Lapid won't sit in coalition with Haredim

All those years in Tommy Lapid's house affected his son, Yair. And although Yair keeps saying what he thinks the Likud wants to hear - that his Yesh Atid party will sit in a coalition with the Haredi parties - the Likud is hearing something completely different.

Following the coalition talks at the Kfar Maccabiah hotel in Ramat Gan, attorney David Shimron, head of the Likud Beytenu negotiating team, said his list and Yesh Atid “discussed a lot of issues, and dedicated a large part of the meeting to clarifying Yesh Atid’s stance about haredi parties joining the government.”

According to Shimron, “the answer we got on this matter was that essentially, to Yesh Atid, there is no place for haredim in the next government.”

He added that Likud Beytenu was “asking Bayit Yehudi this question to understand if they reject [having] haredi parties in the government,” and that the two factions would meet on Friday, their fifth meeting this week, to discuss the matter.

Yesh Atid – as it has done since talks began last month – denied rejecting a government with haredim outright.

The party said, however, that it would stick to its principles, which include several problematic areas for Shas and United Torah Judaism, and expressed hope that the next government would reflect the will of the people and allow for a new political agenda.

Likud seems to be concentrating its efforts on prying Yesh Atid and Jewish Home (Bayit Yehudi) apart, rather than on reaching a deal with Lapid.

MK Ofir Akunis (Likud Beytenu), a close ally of Netanyahu, called for Bayit Yehudi not to make its entry to the coalition dependent on pushing the haredim away.

“I can’t imagine Bayit Yehudi preventing the formation of a nationalist government led by Likud, and endangering the interests of its voters,” he said.

Similarly, former coalition chairman Ze’ev Elkin (Likud Beytenu) reminded Bayit Yehudi that the previous coalition without haredim, which included the National Religious Party (the predecessor of Bayit Yehudi), had voted for the disengagement from Gaza. He called for Bayit Yehudi to allow for a coalition consisting of 61 MKs in the “national camp” before trying to bring in Yesh Atid.

Fellow Likud Beytenu MK Yariv Levin suggested that Bayit Yehudi help find a compromise with the haredi parties that would allow the ultra-Orthodox to enlist in the IDF and integrate in society.

Earlier on Thursday, Likud Beytenu denied reports that it had given up on pulling Lapid and Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett apart and that it planned to bring them into the government first, then ask the haredi parties to join as well.

“We are continuing efforts to form a broad coalition that will include the haredim, Bayit Yehudi, and we hope Yesh Atid and Kadima,” Shimron stated before talks with Yesh Atid.

As the catcher for the Hated Yankees used to say, it' ain't over 'til it's over.'

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Jewish Home party, Knesset elections 2013, Likud party, Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid, Yesh Atid party