Report: Netanyahu seeking to bring Lapid, Gantz into government

Political official says PM giving ‘extremists’ free rein to entice opposition leaders to join govt. to serve as a counterbalance.

Jan 22, 2023, 11:11 AM (GMT+2)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to bring either the Yesh Atid or National Unity parties into his government, a senior political official told Ynet.

According to the official, Netanyahu has not reined in the ‘extremists’ in his government in order to create the condition for Yair Lapid or Benny Gantz to join the government in the next few months to serve as a counterbalance to the far right.

According to the source, Netanyahu is expected to tell Lapid or Gantz to work with him to restore ‘sanity’ to the political scene.

The Religious Zionism party is threatening to boycott votes in the Knesset tomorrow in addition to the Cabinet meeting today in protest against the government’s dismantling of an outpost erected in memory of Rabbi Chaim Druckman.

Reshet Bet reported that the party has accused Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is preventing the transfer of powers to Religious Zionism party chairman Bezalel Smotrich, including the establishment of the administration that is supposed to nationalize the Civil Administration.

Religious Zionism party officials even issued a threat to Likud members and stated that “if there is no progress in resolving the crisis, we will consider absenting ourselves from the Knesset votes on Monday.”

This morning (Sunday) party ministers will be absent from the cabinet meeting in protest of what they called “the violation of the coalition agreement to evacuate the Or Haim outpost on Friday without coordination and contrary to Smotrich’s directive to the civil administration.”

January 23, 2023 | 5 Comments »

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  1. Ketzel is absolutely correct in what he writes.

    I also support Ted and agree with him the urgent necessity to bring about the real two-state solution, wherein Jordan becomes Palestine east of the river Jordan.

    That requires Israel to immediately liberate and redeem the Jordan Valley as its de jure eastern border, remove all illegal Arab settlements from Area C and incorporate the ancestral and Biblical Jewish heartland of Judea and Samaria once and for all into the reconstituted Jewish state.

    The EU must be required to repay Israel for any costs it incurs in removing the vast array of illegal Arab settlements which it, the EU, provided millions of Euros to illegally construct.

    Victor Sharpe

    No equivocation. Just do it.

  2. Denied but… Netanyahu is a stop gap choice. He knows it is his last trot. Population numbers also stump the amorphous reform Jews and related subsections.
    Reforms will take place and openly chosen judges will replace the self elected.
    Minister Deri. In two months he will be back. 500 thousand votes say do. No connection to his past actions. Unless if they want to find details of Lapids application to Bar Ilan.

  3. ketzel2 Exactly. In his autobiography, Bibi said one of his life’s goals was to wean Israel off Socialist bureaucracy and central planning. Well…?


    As for the anonymous report, it sounds absurd on the face of it. What ministries would he give his mortal enemies who want him in prison and oppose his entire agenda?

    Rule of thumb: ‘Anonymous’ is synonymous with bogus.

  4. These people are putting their attention on organizing their bureaucracy, i.e. cronyism and gridlock. How about solving several problems at once by doing something on the ground. Develop all available land as fast as possible and offer it to Israelis who struggle with high rents and home prices. Israelis would flock to new housing, wherever it is, if it were affordable and safe, meaning gated communities backed up with military and private security. New, affordable housing would unify Israel more than shuffling around the usual political hacks. Leftists, right wingers, Zionists and antizionists would all live together peacefully, united by their shared need for affordable housing. And when you have all those Jews living on a previously undeveloped piece of land, that prevents Arabs from taking it over.

    Arabs understand this and build on land they want to steal. Jews are afraid to build on their own land. This new government is starting off on the wrong foot. Just build houses already! Who cares how your office is decorated, with this or that useless potted plant (politician).