Likud, Labor mum about Finance Ministry offer to Yacimovich
LAST UPDATED: 02/17/2013 05:14
Likud Beytenu continued over the weekend in its attempt to build a coalition
that would include ultra- Orthodox parties, even if it means giving Labor senior
economic portfolios.
One day after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and
Labor chairwoman Shelly Yacimovich met in Jerusalem on Friday, Vice Premier
Moshe Ya’alon did not deny the latter was offered the Finance Ministry if she
joins the coalition.
When Dana Weiss, host of Channel 2’s Meet the Press,
asked Ya’alon if Netanyahu wants the haredim in his coalition so badly that he
would offer Yacimovich the Finance Ministry despite their opposing economic
opinions, he responded: “It’s not about the haredim. It’s so we can have the
widest coalition possible.”
Labor declined to comment on what Netanyahu
offered Yacimovich at their meeting, saying only that the prime minister invited
her to his home and that despite the meeting taking place in a pleasant
atmosphere, the gaps between their worldviews are too great, and Labor will
remain in the opposition.