Lieberman: Elections are happening, should be as soon as possible
Shas kingmaker Deri won't be drawn on post-poll support for Netanyahu; Lapid: Netanyahu irresponsible, made bad deal with haredi parties; Herzog: I'm viable choice to replace Netanyahu; source: religious parties gave PM ultimatum on Lapid.
With Israel apparently on an election footing, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who has been largely absent from the political storm of recent days, conceded on Tuesday afternoon that Israel was indeed going to the polls, and that it should be held at the soonest possible opportunity.
"The elections are a done deal, and we should hold them as quickly as possible," Lieberman said.
"I do not want to deal with the reasons why are at this point, and I still believe we could chamge course and do not have to have elections," he said. "Now we have to think about how we get back on track immediately after the elections.
"We have many challenges and the elections do not exempt us from dealing with them. We are still a country without a budget, perhaps facing a general strike. There are also challenges in the diplomatic arena and terrorism is also raising it head. We should be coming together and instead we are going to quarrel for several months."
Earlier Tuesday, Shas leader Aryeh Deri declined to make an absolute commitment to back Benjamin Netanyahu to keep his job if and when the country goes to the polls, despite reports that the prime minister had engineered a deal with the religious parties.
Elections less than two years since the last vote seemed almost inevitable after Finance Minister Yair Lapid rejected an ultimatum from Netanyahu in an explosive meeting Monday night ostensibly aimed at salvaging the warring coalition government.
"There is no deal before the election, we have no agreement," Deri insisted at a press conference in Ashdod. "There were two deals, from the left and from the right. Yesterday they tried to convince me not to hold elections and to form a government without Netanyahu. As we have consistently said, 'alternative government? Only after the elections'."
The popular Sephardi religious party, which has held an average of 11 seats in recent election history, could prove to be the deciding factor in who gets to lead the next government. Both Lapid and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who heads Hatnua, have accused Netanyahu of striking a deal with the religious parties before deciding to push for elections.
Senior sources in Jerusalem said Tuesday morning that before his meeting with Lapid, Netanyahu had received an unequivocal message from Deri and Moshe Gafni of United Torah Judaism: "If you do reconcile with Lapid, you can forget about us after the election."
Lapid hard harsh words for the prime minister Tuesday morning, calling him irresponsible for taking the country to the polls for the second time in two years and accusing him of lining the pockets of the ultra-Orthodox with the money of the middle class.
"The prime minister decided to lead us to unnecessary elections," said Lapid at an energy conference in Haifa, which in light of events found itself transformed into a political convention. "The prime minister only wanted to be told 'no' and then kiss and tell. Netanyahu chose to act with national irresponsibility and not meet his obligations to the public."
He lambasted Netanyahu for his inaction on the budget and neglecting the needs of massive sectors of the Israeli public.
"There was a good alternative instead of wasting billions of shekels on unnecessary elections and paralyzing the economy," he said. "We could have passed a social budget, added billions to education, health, welfare and internal security, a national housing program that would dramatically increase supply and give young couples a VAT reduction."
The finance minister defined the likely upcoming elections as a choice between two different directions.
"These elections are not about a particular topic, not security nor society, but rather a choice between those who came to work and those who stall everything," Lapid said.
"Instead of improving middle class salaries and helping the disadvantaged, the prime minister would rather raise taxes and pay the haredi parties out of the pocket of the Israeli middle class. This is the bad, old-fashioned deal with the ultra-Orthodox. The State of Israel is not in an easy situation; relations with the US have been severely damaged due to arrogant, sometimes dismissive conduct. Gaza was not demilitarized, and an entire generation cannot make ends meet. Instead of cooperation, we got paralysis and endless stalling."
Campaigns begin
Political parties across the spectrum began campaigning in earnest on Tuesday, after the late-night meeting between Netanyahu and Lapid, purportedly arranged in an effort to keep the warring coalition alive, ended in Lapid walking out having been presented with what Yesh Atid said were a list of uinacceptable demands.
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog declared Tuesday morning that he is "able to replace" Netanyahu as prime minister, and vowed to do his utmost to put together a viable coalition before the elections.
"I will do everything I can to establish a bloc before the elections," Labor leader Herzog told Ynet, and called on Kadima and Hatnua to join him.
"I think the writing has been on the wall for a long time," Herzog said. "This was a government whose members failed to lead the country; no one has clean hands, but ultimately, the responsibility lies at Netanyahu's feet."
The opposition leader said Monday night that the people have no trust in this government, and called for elections to change the government.
The prime minister started his abortive meeting with Lapid late Monday night by presenting the finance minister with a list of terms, Yesh Atid sources said, including a demand for Lapid to freeze his flagship legislation on 0% VAT for new home buyers. Lapid was not willing to consider such a move, the sources said.
In the wake of the meeting, Yesh Atid wasted no time in placing the blame for the situation on the prime minister.
Netanyahu arrived "ready to blow up the meeting", Yesh Atid sources said, branding it a "meeting just for show." They said the prime minister had arranged the meeting with no intention of solving any of the issues.
MK Ofer Shelah of Yesh Atid told Ynet on Tuesday morning that Netanyahu had agreed to the 0% VAT bill six months ago, "but now he jettisons it because of an attempt to make a deal with his natural partners."
Shelah added: "In the last two years, the prime minister did everything he could to scupper any initiative for change. The prime Minister holds talks with the religious parties while he sits in the government with other parties. For the haredim he stops the VAT Act, that the entire housing market is waiting for."
"The citizens of Israel now understand the state is headed by a prime minister who backs out on the commitments he made, a prime minister who prefers his personal interests and his survival over the good of the public," said a statement from Yesh Atid after the meeting.
"The prime minister's demands of Yesh Atid reveal his clear political interests and his obligations to the members of the Likud party, to foreign interests and to politicos," the statement said.
"The prime minister prefers to drag the entire country into unnecessary elections that would paralyze the economy, place a burden on the market, halt all reforms planned to benefit Israeli citizens and deprive young couples in Israel of the opportunity to buy an apartment of their own."
Netanyahu also faced accusations from Hatnua sources, who said that the prime minister went into the meeting with Lapid with an agreement with the religious parties and existing coalition partner Naftali Bennett already in his pocket.
"Netanyahu made a deal with the haredim and with (Naftali) Bennett. The entire thing was meant to cover up the deal and set the conditions for elections - a strong right-wing," the Hatnua sources said.
"These elections are not about 0% VAT, but whether we will have a Zionist or extremist state," said Livni. "These are elections between an Israeli-Zionist camp and extremist and dangerous elements that we need to stop from taking over the State of Israel and destroying it."
Deri on Monday also called for elections as soon as possible. "The citizens of Israel deserve a socially conscious government who will act for them and not against them," he said.
Coalition Chairman Ze'ev Elkin (Likud) called on Lapid to accept the conditions the prime minister had set.
"There's no reason for Lapid's refusal to give the IDF the minimal budget required for its regular operations, as was decided by the government, and there's no reason for his insistence on the 0% VAT plan, which most experts believe will only benefit the contractors," Elkin said.
