A report in Ha'aretz Thursday morning said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had offered the National Union to enter his coalition. The effort fell apart over his refusal to declare that building could take place in the Jerusalem area, the report said.
According to the report, most of the party's Mks would have joined the coalition, although MK Michael Ben-Ari, who represents the Eretz Yisrael Shelanu faction of the party, refused to do so. If the party had joined, National Union Chairman MK Ya'akov Katz (Ketzaleh) would have likely been named Welfare Minister, or Minister for the Development of the Galilee and Negev.
Ketzaleh, who is abroad, did not immediately comment on the report.