Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman has three main options as talks to form Israel's next government remain deadlocked, according to Aryeh Zisman, news editor of the chareidi daily Yated Ne'eman. Each one, he says, could reshuffle the political deck.
1. A minority government.
Zisman writes that if negotiations with the chareidi parties run aground and no 61-seat coalition takes shape, Liberman could drop his opposition to a minority government relying on the Arab parties in order to replace Benjamin Netanyahu. In return for agreeing to such a move, Zisman estimates, Liberman might demand that Gadi Eisenkot give him a one-year rotation as prime minister.
2. A return to Likud.
Liberman would carry out what Zisman calls a "Gideon Sa'ar move," a reference to Sa'ar's departure from Likud and later return. Liberman would rejoin the party with an eye on the day after Netanyahu and bring the right-wing bloc to 60 seats. The bloc would then hope to find a defector from the parties of Naftali Bennett or Gadi Eisenkot to supply the 61st vote needed to form a government, Zisman writes.
