Footage recorded by Kol Barama reporter Avi Moskov shows a striking moment of warmth between Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman and chareidi MKs.
In the video, Liberman is seated in the lobby area outside the Knesset plenum when he spots Degel HaTorah chairman MK Yaakov Asher. Liberman gestures to a seat a few chairs to his right and invites Asher to sit between him and Naftali Bennett.
"Come sit between Naftali and me and let's start negotiating," Liberman said with a broad smile, half joking, half serious.
Asher, visibly amused by the gesture, replied: "Wasn't the handshake enough?"
The exchange points to the level of rapprochement between the two sides. Reports suggest that negotiations between United Torah Judaism and Yisrael Beiteinu have already begun, well before the elections.
Earlier in the day, Shas released an official statement clarifying that it will continue to stand with the right-wing bloc and Netanyahu.
"Following various interviews and statements heard recently, we wish to clarify once again: On the instruction of the Council of Torah Sages, Shas recommended to the President of the State that Binyamin Netanyahu form the government, after he committed to passing the law to regulate the status of yeshiva students," the statement read.
"In light of this, Shas continues to support Netanyahu and is not conducting negotiations with any other party."
If Shas holds to its commitment, the implication is that Eisenkot does not have 61 seats without either abstentions or Ra'am joining the government.
