Deri and Herzog
Deri calls on Herzog to join government amid IPBC crisis
After speaking to the opposition leader at a Bar Mitzvah, Shas leader tweets: 'In light of the challenges the country faces, Herzog and his party should join the government'; the Zionist Union head responded: 'come join an alternative government. It is the right solution for Israel.'
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri on Tuesday called on opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) to join the government amid the ongoing crisis between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon over the fate of the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC).
"In light of the challenges the country faces, Herzog and his party should join the government," Deri wrote on Twitter.
Deri and Herzog met at a Bar Mitzvah celebration for the son of Ariel Mashal, director-general of the Ministry for Development of the Negev and the Galilee. Kahlon also attended the event and was also seen speaking to Herzog.
Deri and Herzog speak at the Bar Mitzvah
The leader of the opposition kept his answer brief, tweeting Deri back "come join an alternative government. It is the right solution for Israel."
Netanyahu and Kahlon met on Tuesday in an effort to resolve the crisis after meeting twice on Sunday but have yet again failed to reach any agreement.
Netanyahu, who wants to shut down the IPBC before it goes live on April 30, said on Sunday that it was not possible to close "half a corporation," only the entire thing, insisting no sufficient changes can be made to the IPBC to allow it to still launch.
Kahlon and Herzog speak at the Bar Mitzvah
The prime minister is worried that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit might interfere in his effort to replace the IPBC's management as part of a compromise with Kahlon, or otherwise act against legislation Netanyahu is trying to pass that would impose more state supervision on the media. Closing the IPBC and establishing a different broadcaster to replace it could eliminate these problems.
"The main problem at the moment is legal. There are a lot of compromise proposals, but none that would pass the attorney general," an inside source said.
