Zionist Union leader Herzog
Photo: Yisrael Yosef
Zionist Union eyes Agriculture Ministry to join unity government
Herzog reportedly planning to oust Uri Ariel and his faction Tekuma out of the government, which would make it easier for his party to join the coalition.
As talk of a possible unity government continue in the political system, senior Zionist Union officials said Monday the party is eyeing the Agriculture Ministry as a condition to join the coalition.
For the Zionist Union, the Agriculture Ministry is not only important to a significant portion of its voters (in moshavs and kibbutzim), getting the ministry would also mean removing the Tekuma faction from the government. Tekuma has two seats in Bayit Yehudi - Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel, and MK Bezalel Smotrich.
With Ariel out of the government, it would be easier for Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog to join the coalition.
Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
On the other hand, there is still opposition among senior party officials, among them is Shelly Yachimovich who is not willing to be part of a government that supports the natural gas deal.
Over the past few days, Herzog has been holding talks with party MKs ahead of the upcoming Labor party conference. Naturally, questions arose in many of these meetings about the negotiations to join a unity government. Faction members wanted to know if there was any truth to reports on these negotiations and how Herzog was planning on getting the party's voters on board with such a move.
The internal discussions within the party arose because of the current makeup of the coalition, with parties like Bayit Yehudi holding positions that are problematic for the Zionist Union.
"Sitting in the government with the far-right parties will present the Zionist Union in a negative light," faction members argued.
