The last obstacle to the Yisrael Beitenu party joining Israel's ruling coalition and to its leader Avigdor Liberman being confirmed as minister of defense was removed late last night, Walla! News reports. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the compromise put forward by Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman to resolve the dispute with Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett, who had refused to accept Liberman's appointment unless his demands for more information to be provided to the security cabinet were met.
Under Litzman's proposal, the head of the National Security Council or his deputy will be responsible for reporting to the ministers who are members of the security cabinet, pending the report of the committee appointed by the prime minister to examine the matter. Earlier in the day yesterday, Netanyahu had rejected the compromise.
"From tomorrow morning, Israel's security cabinet will no longer be without an officer who will update the ministers," Bennett said, "This agreement could have been reached a week ago, but it's good that it is now happening. I thank the prime minister, who reached agreement for the sake of the people of Israel and the soldiers of the IDF."
Meanwhile, Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog has declared that despite reports, and statements by Netanyahu, there are no talks on bringing his party into the coalition.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 30, 2016
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