Herzog considering November 2017 Labor leadership primary

If Zionist Union joins the coalition, the largest opposition party would be the Joint List, meaning MK Ayman Odeh would become opposition leader and receive monthly briefings from Netanyahu.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Updated: MAY 8, 2016 00:22
Isaac Herzog (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Isaac Herzog
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) is considering postponing the Labor leadership primary one year to leave options open for negotiations to join the coalition.
A source close to Herzog confirmed that November 2017, a date first reported by Channel 2 News, is one the Labor chairman is considering.
According to Labor’s constitution, if the party does not win the premiership, a leadership primary is supposed to take place up to 14 months following the election – in this case, next week – unless Labor convention delegates vote otherwise.
The party already voted to postpone the primary by three months, but is supposed to set a final date this month. A date for the convention has yet to be set.
Sources in the party say Herzog is still holding informal talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about joining the coalition, but that Netanyahu has yet to make an offer the opposition leader would accept.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu admitted to negotiating to expand the narrow, 61-seat coalition, saying at a meeting of Likud ministers: “There’s one who does not want it” – a reference to Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman – “and one who can’t” – meaning Herzog.
“We will continue trying in the coming weeks,” he said.
If Zionist Union joins the coalition, the largest opposition party would be the Joint List, meaning MK Ayman Odeh would become opposition leader and receive monthly briefings from Netanyahu.
A majority of opposition MKs could vote in a different opposition leader, but that would only happen in the unlikely scenario that Meretz did not support Odeh.