Netanyahu met with Religious Zionist Party’s Bezalel Smotrich earlier on Tuesday in an attempt to resolve the crisis surrounding the formation of the government.
The Religious Zionist Party announced on Tuesday night that the Likud have withdrawn from coalition government talks with the Religious Zionist Party. “Likud retracted the conclusions reached last night and effectively returned the negotiations to the starting point,” a Religious Zionist Party spokesperson said.
Benjamin Netanyahu met with Religious Zionist Party’s Bezalel Smotrich earlier on Tuesday in an attempt to resolve the crisis surrounding the formation of the government.
According to reports on Monday, Religious Zionist Party chairman MK Bezalel Smotrich agreed to back down from his demand to serve as defense minister if his party receives both the Finance Ministry and a minister within the Defense Ministry responsible for matters pertaining to the West Bank.
Netanyahu’s coalition on shaky ground
Further, Itamar Ben Gvir reaffirmed his position that his six-seat party will not join the emerging government without getting the Ministry for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee on Tuesday afternoon.
“We must invest there and without our ability to make it happen, we simply will not enter the government,” Ben Gvir says Tuesday on the Knesset floor.
The increase in tensions between Netanyahu’s Likud and the two controversial far-right parties comes amid Ben-Gvir’s announced his intention to split his Knesset faction from the Religious Zionist Party on Friday afternoon.
As reported by The Jerusalem Post