Netanyahu said to be talking to haredim, Lieberman to avoid elections
PMO denies reports, while FM's office says he won't go back on his word and agree to an alternative government; PM also said to be seeking to bring forward Likud primaries to thwart Sa'ar attempts to unseat him.
A late-night meeting between Netanyahu and Lieberman sparked a flurry of rumors through the political system on Saturday night when the prime minister arrived at the foreign minister's house in Nokdim, where Lieberman is sitting Shiva (Jewish mourning ritual) over his mother who passed away. During the visit, the two held a private conversation that took quite some time.
Political sources claimed Netanyahu was trying to convince Lieberman to let him form an alternative government with the haredi factions.
Meanwhile, Likud MK Yariv Levin told Ynet on Saturday that there was still no time set for a Knesset Committee meeting to prepare the bill proposal for second and third readings on the dissolution of the Knesset.
Political sources said Netanyahu has been trying to postpone the vote Monday on the Knesset's dissolution in order to exhaust all possibilities to forming an alternative government.
Sources close to Lieberman said Saturday night that "Lieberman is someone who stands by his word, and if Lieberman said it's either this coalition or elections - then there's no way there'll be something else."
Netanyahu's office said in response: "There's no limit to the left's media spins. The vote on the dissolution of the Knesset will go ahead as planned on Monday and the elections will take place March 17."
Meanwhile, it was announced Sunday that Likud will hold a party conference on Monday at 5pm, at the same time as the Knesset vote on its dissolution. Prime Minister Netanyahu, as the head of the party, is supposed to oversee the conference and it remains unclear why it was set for the same time as the important Knesset vote, and whether the Likud party MKs and ministers will be in the Knesset or at the conference at the time of the vote. The conference will be held in Ariel and deal with four proposals on how to construct the party's Knesset list.
Sources in Likud said that "it wasn't clear why the prime minister is holding a party conference on the day the Knesset is to disband, and it's also unclear how things will be done on a more technical level. A party conference in Ariel while the Knesset cleans house and votes on its dissolution is a bizarre decision, to say the least."
Ynet also reported on Saturday night that Netanyahu was working to bring forward the primaries for the head of the Likud party in an attempt to prevent former interior minister Gideon Sa'ar of running against him to lead the ruling party in the 2015 elections.
Netanyahu, sources close to him said, was trying to bring forward the primaries to give Sa'ar less time to prepare for the vote.
The primaries for the head of Likud were scheduled for January 6, while Netanyahu is looking to hold the primaries on December 30.
The Likud party said the prime minister had plans to bring forward the primaries even before the possibility of Sa'ar running against him was raised. "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held discussions to examine the possibility of bringing forward the primaries last week, soon after the possibility for early elections arose."
Sa'ar, meanwhile, has not announced his decision yet, and might wait until the very last moment - next Sunday, December 14, to decide whether or not to run against Netanyahu.
"Gideon has yet to make a decision," a Likud source said Saturday. "But if he joins the race, Bibi will be sweating."
Sa'ar was presented with polls that show he and another retiring Likud member Moshe Kahlon could defeat Netanyahu.
On Monday night, Sa'ar is supposed to get the results of a comprehensive in-depth poll, surveying Likud party members only, exploring his odds of winning the primaries.
Likud MK Miri Regev, who serves as the head of the Knesset's Interior Committee, commented on the possibility of Sa'ar running against Netanyahu, saying: "I call on Gideon Sa'ar to go back home."
She went on to make a comment that could indicate she believes Sa'ar might defeat Netanyahu. "I have no doubt that if he runs, it could change the current reality," she said.
A poll released on Friday found that among the general public, 43 percent preferred Sa'ar to Netanyahu, who only got 38 percent of support.
