Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett met on Thursday evening as part of the coalition negotiations.
A source involved in the meeting told Arutz Sheva, however, that there has been no progress in the negotiations between the parties and that, unlike Netanyahu’s meetings with leaders of other parties, he did not speak with Bennett regarding the details of the make-up of the next government.
The meeting comes amid ongoing tensions between the Likud and the Jewish Home over the coalition talks. On Wednesday, a source told Arutz Sheva that Netanyahu is planning to form a unity government with the Labor party and leave the Jewish Home in the opposition.
The members of the Jewish Home are furious at Netanyahu for his failure thus far to keep his promise to appoint a Jewish Home member to one of the three key ministerial portfolios – the Foreign Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Defense Ministry. Earlier Thursday, Bennett warned on his Facebook page that “the prime minister is planning to bring in Buji/Tzipi so he is skipping us. He also retracted his remark that he will not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state and is renouncing all his nationalist obligations.”
“From the opposition, we will be able serve the people of Israel in a way no less effective than [if we were part of] the government. Sometimes from the outside, when you have clear views and present a clear alternative, the influence on the government is greater,” added Bennett.
Responding to Bennett’s comments later Thursday, Netanyahu wrote on his own Facebook page, “I see the Jewish Home as a major component and a true partner in a of nationalist, stable and strong Likud government.”