Party chiefs Aryeh Deri (Shas), Yaakov Litzman (Agudat Yisrael), and Moshe Gafni (Degel HaTorah) presented Prime Minister Netanyahu with a letter reminding him that the entire right-wing bloc was loyal to him during the past year of elections, and that he must find a way to include the Yamina party in his Likud – Blue&White coalition, and to keep the right wing bloc unified, according to a letter published in BeChadarei Chareidim.
— ארי קלמן Ari kalman (@aronkalman1)
Yamina believes that they have been offered minor, insufficient, and insubstantial committee positions and ministries, and are demanding what they feel is their fair share of the pie, which includes the opportunity to continue to influence the government and take on tough and higher level roles. It is generally believed that Naftali Bennett has done an excellent job as Defense Minister, and Bezalel Smotrich has been an incredibly effective Transportation Minister in the temporary government.
Yamina stated that they will be the fighting opposition to the right of Netanyahu’s government if they aren’t given the opportunity to be full partners in the upcoming coalition government. Bennett and Netanyahu spoke late in the afternoon, but no breakthroughs were achieved.
Leading rabbinic figures within the National-Religious camp have called on Yamina to go to the opposition, based on Netanyahu’s offer.
Channel 20 reports that Rafi Peretz (Yamina) received an offer from the Likud to jump ship and join the coalition by himself, and that he is weighing the move.
