Gantz: Netanyahu has become a burden on Likud

Liberman reveals demands on religion and state.

By GIL HOFFMAN
A Likud party election campaign billboard depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen above a billboard depicting Benny Gantz, leader of Blue and White party, in Petah Tikva, Israel (photo credit: NIR ELIAS / REUTERS)
A Likud party election campaign billboard depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen above a billboard depicting Benny Gantz, leader of Blue and White party, in Petah Tikva, Israel
(photo credit: NIR ELIAS / REUTERS)
Even Likudniks realize that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a burden on their party, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz wrote on Friday in a message on his Facebook account.
Gantz wrote the message ahead of what is expected to be a decisive meeting on Sunday of the coalition negotiating teams of Blue and White and Likud with Knesset speaker and mediator Yuli Edelstein. The two parties have to reach an agreement on a unity government by December 11 to prevent the country from going to its third election in under a year.
"Netanyahu refuses to recognize the results of the election and his legal situation," Gantz wrote. "Netanyahu has become a burden on the members of Likud who, based on my conversations with them, understand that the right thing to do is to allow a government to be formed without him. If he will be exonerated, he can come back and serve as prime minister for two years."
Gantz said Israel needed a prime minister who will focus on helping people instead of helping himself, will be a unifying figure and will respect the rule of law.
New Right co-chair Ayelet Shaked expressed confidence on Friday that a unity government could still be formed by the deadline. Writing on her Facebook page, Shaked said the proposal to have Netanyahu serve for a few months followed by Gantz was very fair.
Shaked said there could also still be a right-wing government in which Yisrael Beytenu, United Torah Judaism and Shas coexist.
"I hope that either Blue and White or Yisrael Beytenu display responsibility and enable the formation of a government," Shaked wrote.    
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman revealed a new list of demands on religion and state on Friday, including drafting yeshiva students, civil marriage and opening supermarkets and having public transportation on Shabbat. He also said he would insist on the haredim (ultra-Orthodox) learning the core curriculum that includes math and English.
"We want a normal country in which citizens live according to the principle of 'live and let live," Liberman said. "I do not ask to open stores on Shabbat in Bnai Brak, and I am not ready for stores to be closed in Ashdod."