Livni forgoes rotating premiership with Herzog

In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the party was “panicking,” while Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett said the move indicated the Zionist Union was planning to form a unity government with Netanyahu’s Likud. That claim was subsequently rejected by Herzog as “claptrap.”

 

The bombshell came 12 hours before polling stations were set to open, in an apparent last-ditch effort to garner additional votes.

 

Livni said the rotation agreement ought not interfere with her party’s main task: replacing Netanyahu’s Likud party.

 

In a response to the announcement, Netanyahu told Channel 2 that the decision reflected the Zionist Union’s “panic” — an accusation echoed by Herzog, who in turn said Netanyahu was the one “panicking.”

 

Read More: Livni forgoes rotating premiership with Herzog | The Times of Israel