BICOM

Several Israeli media reports claim this morning that Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home party has turned down an initial offer by Likud-Beitenu to join a coalition government.

It was widely reported earlier this week that Likud-Beitenu had made an attractive offer of several ministerial portfolios on condition that Jewish Home would agree within 48 hours to join a government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It is thought that the deal would have seen Jewish Home handed control of the Education Ministry, a prominent socio-economic ministerial position and the position of deputy defence minister for one of its representatives. Some reports also claim that the Ministry of Religious Affairs was also part of the package.

However, several Israeli dailies this morning say that Jewish Home swiftly rejected the offer on two grounds. Firstly, party officials were left reportedly unimpressed that they had only received an official offer “dozens of hours after we’d heard about it on the news,” according to a party source quoted in the Times of Israel. The same source said that Jewish Home would not agree to join a coalition before the new government’s “stances regarding principle positions and subjects,” had been made clear.

Yesh Atid officials have also indicated that they are seeking to clarify policy positions before discussing specific portfolios. It is thought that Jewish Home and Yesh Atid are closely coordinating their coalition strategies in order to leverage their individual negotiating positions. With 12 and 19 seats respectively in the new Knesset, Yesh Atid and Jewish Home together hold a virtual veto over Netanyahu’s coalition aspirations. According to the news site YNet, a Yesh Atid official described the offer made to Jewish Home as an attempt by Likud-Beitenu to “divide and conquer” in order to break the Yesh Atid-Jewish Home pact.