Likud negotiators at coalition talks
Photo: Gil Yohanan
No progress made in first day of coalition talks
After Kahlon boycotting talks and Netanyahu-Bennett meeting ending without concrete results, Haredi parties discuss core issues with Likud representatives, but refuse to talk about ministries.
Coalition talks were launched officially on Thursday morning but by the end of the day, not much progress has been made after Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon decided to cancel meetings with Likud representatives, citing the fact important "tools" to fighting the high cost of living and the housing crisis were given to the Haredi parties.
Talks with Bayit Yehudi also made no progress after a meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett ended with no concrete agreements being made on any of the contested issues. Bayit Yehudi officials said they fear "Netanyahu will once again play us until the very last moment and, if he has a suitable option, he will leave us in the opposition."
"We presented our main demands in the meeting," said Bennett's representative, Nir Orbach, after talks with Likud negotiators, adding talks were difficult.
Likud and Yisrael Beytenu representatives at the negotiating table (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
A meeting with representatives from Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beytenu party, on the other hand, ended on a positive note.
"As you can see, we stand together. You cannot separate the two parties," accountant Moshe Leon, one of Lieberman's negotiators, said after the meeting with Likud.
"There were initial talks on the basic guidelines of the new government, we raised our demands and we encountered a sympathetic ear and positive dialogue," Leon added.
MK Ze'ev Elkin, one of Likud's negotiators, reaffirmed Leon's comments. "These are two parties that know how to work together. This isn't our first term together. There was a friendly atmosphere and some issues were raised, on some of which we see eye to eye and some require further examination, including a legal one."
Elkin, however, said it was too early to determine whether Yisrael Beytenu's demand to instate capital punishment for terrorists would be accepted.
When asked if Yisrael Beytenu will insist on its demand to get the defense portfolio, MK Robert Ilatov said "we didn't discuss portfolios, only the basic guidelines."
United Torah Judaism representatives arrived at the negotiating room in the Knesset in the evening hours, but neither side came out of the meeting with more than pleasantries towards the other.
"UTJ represents a large and important public in Israel and we view it as a natural partner, as it was in the past when we worked together well," Likud MK Yariv Levin told UTJ representatives.
"We're happy to be invited and hope negotiations will be short and to the point," UTJ leader Yaakov Litzman said. "It's no secret we've gone through two difficult years. I'm sure that when we reach the coalition agreement - it'll be for four and a half years this time."
"We're glad this government has reached its end. We'll fix the wrongs done to citizens," UTJ MK Moshe Gafni added.
Likud and Shas representatives at the negotiating table (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
UTJ were followed by Shas' negotiating team led by former minister Ariel Atias, who was following chairman Aryeh Deri's instructions to focus on the social issues at the core of Shas' campaign promises before discussing portfolios.
"We refuse to discuss portfolios and jobs, these elections were about the path," Atias said. "We want to cancel VAT on basic foodstuff, revive public housing and increase the supply using state lands, and raise the minimum wage. We won't discuss portfolios before these issues are ironed out."
Both Likud and Shas representatives dismissed demands not to appoint Shas leader Deri as interior minister after he was convicted of corruption and served prison time for offenses he committed while in the Interior Ministry.
"There's a law in Israel that allows Aryeh Deri to lead a party that won support from a quarter of a million citizens, so there's no place for such demands," Likud MK Levin said.
