Senior Likud figures said Monday night that despite the party’s aggressive campaign against the Bayit Yehudi party, Naftali
Bennett is expected to be a major partner in the next government, Yossi Verter reports.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one high-ranking Likud figure told Haaretz
that Bennett is “unequivocally” a central partner in the envisioned
post-election Likud-led government. “The parties in the nationalist camp
want [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu as the premier and it’s good
for us for them to be near him,” the source continued, adding, “All the
reports about Netanyahu planning to form a government that will leave
Habayit Hayehudi outside the coalition are incorrect. Bennett won’t have
to apologize to his voters when he joins the government; they see it as
a natural step. [Hatnuah head Tzipi] Livni or [Yesh Atid leader Yair]
Lapid will go in, but they’ll have to apologize and to justify their
remaining in the coalition by means of various accomplishments.”
Another
senior Likud figure continued saying “The entire recent campaign is part
of defining positions more sharply for the period of the election. We
don’t see Bennett as an ideological rival. But the right’s voters must
realize that the road to realizing the Zionist vision and the principles
of the movement goes through a big party.”