Coalition chairman: Likud not obligated on rotation deal
Budget to be submitted in Dec., deadline to be missed again
The Likud is no longer obligated to fulfill the terms of the prime ministerial rotation deal with Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz, and Blue and White does not have legitimacy to lead the country, Coalition Chairman MK Miki Zohar ( Likud) said Sunday.
“Elections are an excellent option now,” Zohar told 103FM, adding that Blue and White had breached coalition agreements, thereby obviating its right to the rotation deal in the coalition agreement that established the government.
When asked why Likud does not push for elections if it is not scared of the possible results, he said: “I agree completely. Elections are an
excellent option.”
Whether there will be elections would be decided on December 23, the deadline for the government to pass a budget, Zohar said. Currently, it seems the country is headed for elections, he said.
Blue and White should pass a budget for 2020 so that the government could begin working on a budget for 2021, Zohar said.
“To pretend to be the ones who will prevent Netanyahu from becoming prime minister, from the height of their seven seats, is no less than pathetic and embarrassing to me,” he told 103FM.
“They want to pass the budget not out of considerations for the good of the citizens of the State of Israel, but to ensure that [ Alternate Prime Minister] Benny Gantz enters the position of prime minister,” Zohar said, adding that although the two parties signed a rotation agreement, Blue and White is “not entitled to the agreement because they themselves have not kept the agreement until this moment.”
Blue and White violated the rotation agreement and lost public legitimacy to lead the state as a party that holds only seven seats, he said, adding: “They attack the prime minister and the Likud from morning to evening, they violate the coalition agreement every week by voting against the coalition’s positions, [ and] they work for assigning officials in violation of the coalition agreement without coordination with the Likud.”