No end in sight for coalition crisis
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon meet again on the issue of the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation, in an attempt to resolve their disagreement, but sources close to the talks said the crisis is far from over.
Netanyahu and Coalition Chairman David Bitan have threatened to disband the coalition and call for new elections if Kahlon does not agree to disband the new public broadcaster, which is scheduled to begin operations at the end of April.
Shas Party leader Aryeh Deri also attended the meeting, apparently to act as mediator between the two sides.
Netanyahu also addressed conflicting reports around Israel’s negotiations with the White House on the topic of settlements' construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
“There have been reports in the media lately regarding apparent agreements in the talks we are holding with the White House on the issue of settlement construction,” stated Netanyahu in the coalition meeting.
“I would like to make it clear that there is much in these reports that is not true. I will not go into details. Our talks with the White House are continuing; I hope they will conclude quickly,” he stated on the matter.
There are growing signs that Trump’s policy on the matter is not radically different than President Obama’s. Before departing China on Wednesday, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that “significant progress” had been made with the Trump administration on the issue but Thursday, Israel Radio quoted an unnamed government official who said the administration would likely limit its approval for settlement building to existing settlement blocks while freezing all construction outside of them.
Reproduced with permission from TPS
