Coalition Talks Deadlocked, Likud Warns Yesh Atid 'Last Chance'

With coalition talks between Likud-Beytenu and Yesh Atid stalled -- primarily over the issue of who gets the Education portfolio -- Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has finally warned Yair Lapid that time has run out. Netanyahu met Wednesday morning with Lapid’s bloc partner, Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett in a last-ditch effort to break the deadlock. Likud sources told reporters that if Yair Lapid could not find a way to compromise on what they called “excessive demands,” then Netanyahu would approach the hareidi-religious parties instead to negotiate their entry into the coalition.