Netanyahu reportedly holds Foreign Ministry portfolio for rival

PanARMENIAN.Net - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly holding the Foreign Ministry portfolio for himself in the hope of later handing the top government position to Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog should he manage to cajole the party into the coalition, The Times of Israel reports.

Nir Hefetz, the head of the Likud’s public relations wing, confirmed to Israel Radio Thursday that the PM was still holding the portfolio, even after Netanyahu late Wednesday hammered out a deal with Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett, allowing the Israeli leader to inform President Reuven Rivlin that he had successfully cobbled together a 61-seat coalition.

“I understand that [keeping the Foreign Ministry] is [the prime minister’s] inclination, because he really wants to leave room for the government to expand in the future,” Hefetz said.

When asked whether Netanyahu was holding the government portfolio in hopes of wooing Herzog, Hefetz responded “yes.”

Unnamed Likud officials told the Israel Hayom daily that Netanyahu was seeking to expand the government beyond its current fragile, two-seat majority, and that he is set to pursue negotiations with the Zionist Union on the matter over the coming weeks.

Netanyahu himself hinted at efforts to expand his coalition in announcing his government Wednesday night.

“61 seats is a good number. 61-plus is a better number. But it starts with 61, and we will begin with that,” Netanyahu said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

Herzog criticized Netanyahu’s newly formed government shortly after it was announced, saying that the 61-seat coalition “lacks responsibility, stability and governance.”

He also called it a “national disaster of a government. A weak and narrow government, susceptible to blackmail, that will advance nothing and will quickly be replaced by a responsible and hopeful alternative.”

Tzipi Livni, who heads the Hatnua party, also had harsh words for the new government.

“I disagree with the worldview, the path, and the objectives [of the new government], so I cannot wish it luck on the issues where there is such a disagreement, but in general, I hope for the best for the nation of Israel,” she said.