WarSclerotic

Despite Iran deal, Israeli unity government said unlikely | The Times of Israel.

Talks between Likud, Zionist Union falter over policy, ministerial posts, Channel 2 reports

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog during the opening session of the Knesset on March 31, 2015. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

A unity government in which the Zionist Union party joins Benjamin Netanyahu’s narrow Likud-led coalition is looking increasingly unlikely, Channel 2 reported Friday, citing unnamed political sources.

According to the sources, both the prime minister and Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog were amenable in principle to a unity government, in part because of their shared opposition to the new world powers’ nuclear deal with Iran, but differences arose over diplomatic policy and the issue of which ministerial posts the Zionist Union would receive.

Furthermore, both Netanyahu and Herzog were aware of a large faction within the Zionist Union, headed by senior MKs Tzipi Livni and Shelly Yachimovich, which is opposed to such a move, the report said.

Both Likud and Zionist Union officials were quoted by the Haaretz daily on Thursday as saying that President Reuven Rivlin has been mediating between the two party leaders over the formation of a unity government. A Likud source told Haaretz that the Iranian nuclear deal created a renewed urgency for such a government.

The Likud source said that if Herzog were to join the coalition, Netanyahu would give Zionist Union both the Foreign Ministry, which currently has no minister, and Defense Ministry, headed by former IDF chief Moshe Ya’alon of the Likud party. 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.”

Herzog announced Wednesday that he would go to the US to lobby for a compensation package to ensure Israel’s military edge in the region, in the wake of Tuesday’s Iran nuclear deal.

US nuclear negotiator Wendy Sherman said Thursday that the administration has offered to discuss upgrading its defense assistance to Israel but was rebuffed by Netanyahu. “The prime minister was not ready to have that discussion yet,” Sherman said.

Herzog’s trip reflects the broad opposition to the deal in Israel, where most politicians fear it will fail to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons while strengthening the Islamic Republic’s support for some of Israel’s fiercest foes.

In a rare show of cooperation, Herzog had announced earlier Wednesday that he would work with Netanyahu’s ruling coalition to thwart the deal. In a late-night meeting between the political rivals Tuesday, Netanyahu updated Herzog on the security implications of the deal and emphasized the need for the opposition and coalition to form a united front in presenting the dangers to Israel posed by the agreement.

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