Yamina chairman and defense minister Naftali Bennett on Monday afternoon tweeted: “Benny Gantz called me a few minutes ago to invite me to a meeting for a government headed by him. I told him I won’t meet him until he shook off the terrorists-supporting Joint Arab List.”
“Gantz, set aside your ego and disagreements, and join today a national emergency government led by Netanyahu to overcome the coronavirus crisis,” Bennett tweeted further, concluding: “We must join arms!”
So, first, joining arms is not recommended at all by Israel’s health ministry, which also insists on maintaining a 6-foot distance between individuals.
Also, here are a few responses to Bennett’s swaggering statement from Twitter followers:
“You are a certified idiot. Don’t you understand that’s exactly why he called you, so he wouldn’t have to include the List? The rightwing block is probably more important to you than the country.” (BigNoni)
“You make all possible mistakes time after time. One time you did not pass the threshold percentage. The second time you have the smallest party in the Knesset. If you do not even want to meet a former chief of staff and the man who received the mandate from the president to form a government in this time of an emergency, but instead support a PM who thinks you don’t measure up to your post – you just aren’t good enough.” (David G.)
The first to meet with Gantz on Monday were chairman of Labor-Gesher-Meretz Amir Peretz, and Israel Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman, who recommended him to the president Sunday night, which granted him the mandate to start coalition building negotiations. Gantz told both men that he intends to work to establish as wide a government as possible, to deal with the significant challenges facing the State of Israel at this time.
The parties agreed to meet soon.