The leader of Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) Naftali Bennett on Monday expressed optimism about the formation of the next coalition government as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began working on a coalition without haredi (ultra-orthodox) parties.
“The political field is also moving from winter to spring. That is the source of a good atmosphere and a lot of goodwill to form a government,” Bennett said.
According to news reports, he might become the next Finance Minister.
Meanwhile, Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich insisted that she will remain in the opposition, despite efforts by haredi parties to convince her otherwise.
Netanyahu and others in Likud Beytenu have criticized Bennett – either by name or with thinly veiled hints – for maintaining his pact with Yair Lapid’s centrist Yesh Atid, who refuses to sit in the government with haredi parties, which would prevent the formation of a broad coalition.
Lapid tempered Bennett optismis by saying : “It’s far from over. Israeli politics is about surprises. I hope that, together with the Prime Minister, we will successfully form a government that is good and stable, and will deal with what is good for the country and not for politicians.”
He also expressed hope that he will take part in improving the lives of all Israelis, including the ultra-Orthodox.
“Haredim will see that we are not against them. It is part of our job to be at their service,” he stated.
Netanyahu will have to sign agreements with both Yesh Atid and Bayit Yehudi in order to form a coalition of over 61 seats in 120-member Knesset, Israel’s parliament, because the parties are aligned and will not be in a government with ultra-orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism.
Netanyahu’s only alternative is to bring the Labor party into the coalition, which would also allow the haredi parties to join, but according to the media the possibility is looking very unlikely.
Labor’s leader Shelly Yacimovich made it clear that “despite all the calls and the attempts to open negotiating channels, nothing is different that will make me change the deep and ideological decision not to join the government.”
On Monday, Netanyahu said he was days away from forging a "strong and stable" coalition.
On Saturday night, the Prime Minister was given two more weeks to form a new government, four weeks after initially being tasked to do so by President Shimon Peres.
"But despite the difficulties, I intend to form a strong and stable government in the days ahead," he said via satellite from Israel to thousands of delegates at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington. AIPAC is the main pro-Israel group in the US.
"If I can offer a free piece of advice: Don't adopt Israel's system of government," Netanyahu said.
"Believe me, it's a lot easier to find common ground between two parties than it is to find common ground among 10 parties," he said, referring to the Democrats and Republicans in the United States.
"You think you have difficulty working out your politics? Believe me, this is harder."
If Netanyahu ultimately fails to meet the deadline to form a government, another member of parliament will be given the responsibility of putting together a coalition.
But he sounded a note of assurance that he would manage to form a government, saying the first thing that it will have "the privilege of doing, is to warmly welcome President Obama" on his first visit to Israel since assuming office.
The White House has dismissed suggestions that the Obama trip might be delayed due to the political turbulence in Israel. White House spokesman Jay Carney saying there were "no scheduling changes to announce" and that the president was "looking forward very much to his trip to Israel and the region."