Update: Liberman Says He Will Bend on Haredi Draft Law to Help Form Israel's Next Government
The Yisrael Beytenu chairman, long the loudest foe of draft exemptions for yeshiva students, now says compromise is "desirable" as talks on a 61-seat coalition with the ultra-Orthodox parties move ahead.
Learn more ›JERUSALEM —
Avigdor Liberman, chairman of the Yisrael Beytenu party, said Friday, Nov. 6, that he is open to sitting in a coalition with Israel's ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) parties and to compromising on the law that governs whether yeshiva students must serve in the army, the Times of Israel reported.
“It pains me, and I know it's painful to many others,” Liberman said, adding that “it is permissible and desirable to be flexible and compromise.” For years he has been the most outspoken opponent of broad draft exemptions for Torah students.
Learn more ›Liberman rejected reports that he had agreed to rotate the prime minister's post with Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot, according to the Times of Israel. He urged the formation of a 61-seat coalition, a majority of the 120-seat Knesset, that would not depend on the Arab parties Joint List and Ra'am.
Yair Golan, chairman of The Democrats, said he was more hopeful than he had been after the Oct. 27 election results. “There is progress. There is willingness,” Golan said, adding that his camp is “determined to form an emergency national government — and fast.”
United Torah Judaism chairman Yaakov Asher welcomed the shift. “I'm happy to discover the flexibility of all political players on enlistment,” he said, but added that UTJ has not yet received any proposal for a partnership. Any offer would be weighed by the party's spiritual leaders, the Times of Israel reported. UTJ broke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week and recommended no one for prime minister.
Learn more ›JNS reported that a coalition of Yashar, B'Yachad, The Democrats, Yisrael Beytenu, UTJ and Shas would add up to 61 seats. President Isaac Herzog, who finished his consultations with the parties on Thursday, Nov. 5, is expected to announce on Sunday whom he will ask to form a government. Sixty-seven lawmakers recommended Eisenkot and 46 recommended Netanyahu.
What we don't know yet: Whether UTJ and Shas will actually join a government with Liberman, what a compromise draft law would say, and whether Herzog will give Eisenkot the mandate on Sunday. Netanyahu's Likud had not responded publicly to Liberman's remarks in the reports we read.
