A day after PM Netanyahu urged his main political rival, former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot, to hold talks without preconditions on forming a unity government – a call which the ex-general dismissed as “a bluff” – the parties’ negotiating teams met on Sunday. Eisenkot currently holds the mandate to form a government after 67 out of 120 Israeli lawmakers endorsed him.
The Likud’s team included Attorney Michael Rabello, Netanyahu’s former private lawyer, who recently withdrew his candidacy for state comptroller. In July, The High Court froze Rabello’s appointment to the role following petitions challenging his election in a tainted vote. Shortly after the Knesset chose Rabello in what is meant to be a secret vote, a lawmaker from Netanyahu’s coalition said its members were told, in contravention of Israeli law, to film their ballots.
Across the aisle, the Yashar team was led by Yoav Horowitz, who once served as Netanyahu’s chief of staff and Prime Minister’s Office director-general, and Yashar MK Chili Tropper. A team on behalf of Together, the party led by former PM Naftali Bennett and opposition leader Yair Lapid, also attended the meeting. Following the sit-down, Yashar and Likud said in a joint statement they agreed “to continue talks.”
On Saturday evening, in his response to Netanyahu’s plea, Eisenkot challenged the premier and Finance Minister Smotrich, who joined the premier’s call, to instruct their parties to support Yashar’s vote to replace Likud’s Knesset speaker on Tuesday. This would demonstrate, he said, whether Likud and Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party were serious about political cooperation.
Haaretz
