Herzog's rivals say he'll join unity government if reelected Labor leader
Candidates in Labor leadership race and other party officials claim Herzog wants to join the Netanyahu government and become foreign minister in order to promote the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.
Labor leader Isaac Herzog's political rivals and other party officials assert he would attempt to bring the party into the government if he wins the upcoming primary election.
Party officials claimed Herzog, who has been trying unsuccessfully over the past two years to restore the party to its former glory, believes he could only do so by joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government.
"(Herzog) is trying to explain that the talks over the past year on joining the Netanyahu government have been genuine and out of a desire to promote a diplomatic move. With this, he's trying to prepare public opinion for a possible move to join the government if he wins the primary," said one of the other primary candidates. "If (Herzog) wins the primaries, we'll see him as Netanyahu's foreign minister in a matter of months."
Reports surfaced on Monday of a secret meeting between Netanyahu, Herzog and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in April 2016 to discuss the possibilities of a unity government in Israel and the resumption of the peace process with the Palestinians.
One Labor primary candidate claimed Netanyahu hasn't taken the option of forming a unity government off the table, and that the prime minister was waiting for the results of the Labor primary election to see if he could form such a government with the winner.
Labor officials said Herzog hasn't taken the option off the table either, and does not rule out joining the Netanyahu government and serving as the foreign minister.
Herzog's rivals, meanwhile, rejected the possibility of forming a unity government with Netanyahu out of hand.
"Netanyahu is a false messiah," said primary candidate MK Omer Bar-Lev. "His circle of lies grows and expands. In the latest round, he lied to al-Sisi and the king of Jordan, and he continues by lying to the Labor party."
"That is why the answer is no, we will not join a government led by him," Bar-Lev added. "If there is a diplomatic effort, we would be willing to give our support from the opposition, but we will in no way take part in Netanyahu's policy of lies."
MK Erel Margalit, also a candidate for the Labor leadership, asserted that "Anyone who pushes to join the Netanyahu government is giving him political capital that would go to waste. We must not give (Netanyahu) a safety net. We need to declare him bankrupt and take the reins from him."
Candidate Avi Gabay, formerly the environmental protection minister in the Netanyahu government, called on Herzog not to join the coalition, adding, "Since Netanyahu has been prime minister for eight years and has yet to go for a peace agreement, he's not going to. It's better to support the diplomatic process from the Knesset and not from the government."
Herzog's office dismissed the other candidates' claims, saying in response, "As soon as the candidates realized Herzog was going to round two and winning, a smear campaign had begun by candidates like Avi Gabay and Omer Bar-Lev, who are trailing behind and have turned themselves into fortune tellers who know what would happen in the future.
"As soon as he is reelected, Herzog will lead a move to disperse the Knesset in light of the investigations into Netanyahu and his many failures and work to go to elections and form a central Zionist bloc that already has the support of most members of the Labor party."
