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Photo: Amit Shavi
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog
Photo: Amit Shavi

Herzog comes under fire from his own party over secret coalition talks

Zionist Union leader urged by party members to state unequivocal refusal to join the coalition as his allies tell him 'you made a fool out of us.'

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog came under scathing criticism from his own Zionist Union party on Sunday in the wake of his failed attempt to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

 

 

During a stormy faction meeting Herzog sought to explain his actions when he found himself under attack by his own supporters.

 

Five MKs from the Labor party—Stav Shaffir, Shelly Yachimovich, Erel Margalit, Mickey Rosenthal and Yossi Yona—decided to boycott the meeting, signalling their opposition his actions. Justifying the boycott, Rosenthal said that “I lost faith in the chairman of my party and his abilities to lead the opposition against Netanyahu.”

 

Prime Minister Netanyhu and Isaac Herzog. Photo: AFP (Photos: Alex Kolomoisky, AFP)
Prime Minister Netanyhu and Isaac Herzog. Photo: AFP

  

The onslaught against Herzog did not end there. Herzog’s attempts to justify the negotiations, while simultaneously denouncing the opposition factions within the Labor ranks as “an anarchistic group that wants to kill the party,” were met with disapproval.

 

Indeed, Herzog's detractors, among whom were many who he can normally rely on for support, accused him of going behind their backs and not consulting with them during the secret negotiations with the prime minister. “I have strong criticism of the way you handled the process,” his chief political partner Tzipi Livni (leader of the Hatnua faction within the Zionist Union—ed.) told him. “I expected a lot more from you in terms of the cooperation between us,” she added.

 

MK Amir Peretz claimed that he had earlier warned Herzog against trusting Netanyahu and slammed the Labor chairman's attacks against MK Shelly Yachimovich. “Just as I am not prepared to hear them call you a ‘dog,’ I am also not prepared to see you become part of the incitement against the left. I want to be clear: I am a man of the left,” he declared.

 

MK Itzik Shmuli, who is usually considered a calm moderate, strongly reproached Herzog for treating his party members as pawns. “When I hear you, I feel like we are in a game of chess,” he said. “There is a king - Herzog. There is a queen - Livni. There is a rook - Eitan Cabel. We are all soldiers who are good enough to take a bullet for the party but not good enough to be part of your negotiations with Netanyahu.”

 

Even MK Merav Michaeli, one of Herzog’s closest political associates, voiced her discomfort with her leader’s handling of the matter. “You put me and the entire faction in an impossible situation. We gave our support and we didn’t know why or for what we were giving it,” she said.

 

Joining the fray was Zionist Union MK Ksenia Svetlova who told Herzog that “you made a fool of us.”

 

In light of the political upheaval, Zionist Union officials called on Herzog on Sunday to publicly declare that he will not participate in any further negotiations with the prime minister and will not join the coalition. “The deal is over,” said Cabel, who played a part in the secret coalition discussions. “There is no chance that we will enter the government. The curtain has fallen and the deadline has passed.”

 

In a similar vein, Shmuli added that “The door needs to be slammed on Netanyahu’s face so that it will be clear.”

 

Herzog appears to have met the demand as he addressed the subject directly on his Twitter account on Monday morning, writing “Netanyahu, in response to your moves during the last few days to renew negotiations on joining the government, I want to clarify publicly what I have said to you: The door is closed. This chapter has ended. You are a prisoner of extremists and we will fight against this and against them.”

 

Despite the political debacle, Netanyahu has expressed that he remains open to bringing Herzog into the government. Indeed, on Sunday he stated once again before his Likud ministers his intentions to leave a number of remaining portfolios open which included that of the foreign minister. “I am leaving the portfolio as an option to further expand the government and also to incorporate the Labor party.”

 


פרסום ראשון: 05.23.16, 11:52
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