BICOM

One day after his unsuccessful attempt to lead a group of Knesset members from Kadima to Likud, Tzachi Hanegbi declared his own return to Likud on Monday, seven years after he left the party.

On his Facebook page, Hanegbi posted, “Whoever has been following the news over the last couple of days knows that after Kadima party leader Shaul Mofaz’s decision to break up the unity government, I was part of an effort to convince as many Kadima members as possible to support the government, and help Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu draw up a law to equalize sharing of the national burden, by August 1. Only a few MKs decided to join the effort, and therefore the military draft law won’t be passed.” “The chances for next year’s national budget to be approved are also low, and it’s safe to assume that we will find ourselves in election mode fairly soon” Hanegbi concluded.

“In 2005, I followed Ariel Sharon, and lent my hand to founding the Kadima movement. Unfortunately, Kadima’s current leadership no longer reflects my positions. For this reason, I answered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call to rejoin the ranks of the Likud. In the coming days I will officially sign the forms to re-join the party to which I belonged for over twenty years,” Hanegbi wrote.

Earlier on Monday, political officials cited in Haaretz said that Hanegbi was interested in serving as Home Front Defense Minister, a position which would be of importance if Israel were to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities this year.

Meanwhile, a Knesset committee is expected to convene this morning to decide on whether to adopt Mofaz’s request to push out four of his party’s MKs, for attempts to drop out of the Knesset faction and join Netanyahu’s coalition. However, an unnamed Likud official said that the “move is hopeless,” as his party had “no intention of cooperating.”

The four MKs in question are Avraham Duan, Yulia Shamalov Berkovich, Arie Bibi, and Otniel Schneller. If the unlikely move does succeed the MKs could not be appointed to ministerial positions or roles as committee leaders; nor would they be allowed to compete in the next elections under the banner of any party currently in the Knesset.