Livni: Netanyahu deal with ultra-Orthodox parties is political cowardice
Move follows row over Livni's conversion bill, which would loosen Chief Rabbinate's grip on conversions; Herzog: PM only interested in himself.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni branded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political coward on Tuesday for his plan to strike a deal with Bayit Yehudi and the ultra-Orthodox parties, and call for early elections. Opposition leader Isaac Herzog, meanwhile, said Netanyahu only cared about his own prospects, not the wellbeing of the Israeli people.
The crisis followed the introduction of a bill on conversion proposed by Livni, who heads the Hatnua party, which would enable rabbis for every Israeli city to have a religious conversion court. If passed, the bill effectively ends the Chief Rabbinate's monopoly on conversions.
According to senior political sources, Netanyahu has hatched out a two-pronged plan to retain power both within his own Likud party and as the head of a new government.
Netanyahu will first announce primary elections in Likud, despite fierce opposition from within the party. He will then lay the ground for his next coalition, which he hopes to have in place by the end of May 2015, alongside Economy Minister Naftali Bennett's Bayit Yehudi party and the ultra-Orthodox factions currently in opposition.
But Livni hit back Tuesday at the plan.
"Bibi succumbed to his fears and succumbed to the ultra-Orthodox," she said in a closed-door meeting. "I
would respect him more if he had agreed to a free vote, as we previously proposed."
Hatnua officials say they Livni has reached an agreement with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, and Finance Minister Yair Lapid, who leads Yesh Atid, and the bill will advance in the Knesset with the backing of all three parties.
Herzog told Ynet that the prime minister didn’t care about the Israeli people, and was only worried about his own political future.
"At a time when Israel's citizens are being crushed by the cost of living and housing prices, Netanyahu is only concerned with his personal survival," Herzog said.
"No political maneuver fails can hide the failures of the prime minister in the socio-economic and political arenas," he continued.
"The Israeli public are not fools, nor are they in Netanyahu's pocket as he believes."
