Shaked, Gafni in talks to form right-wing government

Last-minute efforts underway to prevent vote tomorrow to dissolve Knesset, hold new elections. Sa’ar continues to refuse to sit with Likud.

Israel National News   21.06.22 16:58

Shaked and Sa’ar  Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, who is in Morocco, has held many discussions in the last two days with United Torah Judaism chairman MK Moshe Gafni with the aim of establishing a right-wing government in the current Knesset so that new elections would not need to be held in the Fall.

A senior Likud official expressed pessimism about the success of such a move, in light of Gideon Sa’ar’s refusal to sit with Netanyahu: “At the moment, this is not possible. Sa’ar refuses, ” the senior official said.

MK Yoav Kish (Likud) told 103FM radio today that “if it is possible to form a right-wing government, it is the right thing to do.”

“There have been talks with anyone who defines himself as a right-wing man, or a right-wing woman for that matter. Along the way there have been problems I think until the dissolution is complete it is right for us to try to bring about to a right-wing government,” Kish said.

The Knesset Presidium on Tuesday morning approved for a vote by the Knesset plenum a bill to dissolve the Knesset.

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The bill will be brought for a vote on Wednesday, subject to approval by the Knesset Committee, after the Likud succeeding in pushing the vote back by one day.

At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is continuing his usual work from his office in Tel Aviv.

Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to form a new government in the current Knesset, without the need for new elections, a senior Likud official said Tuesday.

A senior Likud official told Israel National News that the Likud is opposed to the immediate dissolution of the Knesset in order to give Netanyahu an opportunity to try to establish a new government.

“He is really taking advantage of these remaining hours,” the official said, in order to determine whether there is any possibility of forming a new government in the current Knesset.

The Likud is hoping to secure the support of the Blue and White party for an alternative government, the official said.

Netanyahu hopes to secure a few additional days before new elections are called in order to determine whether Blue and White can be persuaded to join an alternative government.