The religious right-wing Yamina party, led by Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, has vowed to bring about the downfall of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Today’s date, May 12, will go down in history as the start of Netanyahu’s fall from power,” Bennett was quoted as saying.
Other Yamina leaders accused Netanyahu of selfishly turning his back to the party which has acted as a safety valve for him over the last five years. They also vowed to end Netanyahu’s political career very soon.
Officials in the ruling Likud party had accused Yamina of crushing efforts to join the government coalition, saying that Bennett wants three ministerial portfolios to solve his internal problems. Nevertheless, Yamina’s six-seat bloc in parliament is undeserving of three ministerial portfolios.
The Likud released the statement after Bennett burned bridges with Netanyahu by harshly criticizing him in an online press conference.
"Tonight it became final that Bennett and Yamina have decided to quit the right-wing bloc," the Likud statement said. "Bennett's refusal of our generous offer for Yamina to control all the issues that are important to religious Zionist reveals that he cares about cabinet seats, not ideology. It is unfortunate that due to internal conflicts, Bennett and his colleagues in Yamina preferred to join the opposition with [Yesh Atid head] Yair Lapid and [Balad MK] Heba Yazbak."
The Likud also complained that Yamina did not officially recommend to President Reuven Rivlin that Netanyahu form the next government, despite the party's campaign promises.
The new Israeli government that will emerge from the unity government deal signed by Netanyahu and Benny Gantz is expected have up to 36 cabinet ministers and up to 16 deputy ministers, making it the largest in Israel’s history.
It is noteworthy that Netanyahu is facing a problem with former Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein, who wants his job back but Gantz’s Blue and White Party is opposed to the idea.
Edelstein wants his job back to pave the way for his presidential candidacy once Reuven Rivlin’s mandate is over.
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