[redcarpet]

Zionist Union said in talks to join Netanyahu coalition

Rivlin mediating between PM, Herzog, report says; Herzog denies rumors, but sources in his party and Likud confirm them

Pesident Reuven Rivlin has been mediating between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog in a bid to form a unity government, the Likud and Zionist Union parties were quoted by Haaretz as saying on Thursday.

Herzog dismissed the reports as “utter nonsense,” while a Zionist Union source maintained that the negotiations brokered by Rivlin were general in nature and that Netanyahu was spreading rumors of a unity government for political gain.

In the past few weeks, the president has met separately with Netanyahu and Herzog, sources said. One Likud source told Haaretz that the Iranian nuclear deal created a renewed urgency for a unity government.

“The political system is ripe for unity, primarily over the developments with Iran,” the source said. “Even Herzog knows that the world views a unity government differently. There have been overtures for a few weeks already, and our assessment is that there will be no significant opposition in the Zionist Union to joining the coalition.”

The Likud source added that it was “unclear whether the move will produce results next week, and uncertain whether any results would be reached at all, but this is the general direction.”

The Likud source said that if Herzog would join the government, Netanyahu would give the Zionist Union the Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry. The Haaretz report maintained that Herzog had initially refused to join if the Jewish Home party remained a coalition partner, but later dropped that demand.

Herzog on Wednesday rejected rumors of an impending unity government as “utter nonsense.” Meanwhile, a senior Zionist Union source maintained that the talks were simply procedural, and that there was “nothing to them.”

“The leaks about it are likely designed to help Netanyahu pressure Liberman and push him to join the coalition, or to quell the coalition demands of his coalition partners,” the source said. “He wants to create the impression that he has an alternative to an existing coalition.”

Mmmm, after bashing them in the non-election campaign proceeds to negotiate to invite ZU into the government coalition. Just goes to show that you shouldn't be mean and so on towards major parties in PR-elections

[wat0n]

I hope they show him the finger.