Israel's ruling party meets Opposition to mull forming war cabinet

Israeli Opposition and Likud party representatives met today to examine the possibility of forming an emergency government cabinet, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Benny Gantz, a lawmaker in the opposition and a former head of the general staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, wants to join a war cabinet in case of emergency, but he doesn’t want the far right to be involved, according to Ynet. MK National Unity, led by Benny Gantz, proposed that in order for it to participate in an emergency unity government, a tiny “war cabinet” must be established. This “war cabinet” would include members of Benny Gantz’s party as well as “relevant ministers” picked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a statement to the press released after a meeting between representatives of National Unity and Netanyahu’s Likud earlier today to discuss the entry of Gantz’s party into the government, the party claims that the majority of the authority for fighting a war would need to be transferred to this war cabinet. Instead of accepting new or existing cabinet positions for the duration of the war, the party claims it is advocating that its MPs be appointed as ministers without portfolios. National Unity specifies that during the emergency government’s term in office, no legislation unrelated to the war cannot be introduced in the Knesset; this appears to be a reference to the government’s very contentious program for judicial reform. Whether it ultimately decides to join or not, National Unity adds that it will support the government and the security forces wholeheartedly throughout the conflict. Netanyahu said on Saturday night that he had made the option of joining the government available to both National Unity and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, but not much has changed since then. In essence, Yesh Atid is requesting that Netanyahu remove the extreme right-wing Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties from his cabinet before it will join.