Justice Minister Tzipi Livni
Justice Minister Tzipi LivniFlash 90

In the public part of her Hatnua faction's weekly meeting Monday, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has to make a decision in the diplomatic sphere, and that he must put an end to the phenomenon she termed “Danonism.” The term refers to Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, who has spoken out against the idea of a Palestinian state.

It now turns out that Livni is not just talking but also acting behind the scenes to enlist Yesh Atid into a bloc within the coalition that would promote negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, reports Maariv.

In the course of the faction meeting, the newspaper reported, members of Hatnua decided to approach Lapid's party and offer to join forces in a bloc that would specifically be concerned with the diplomatic sphere. The idea even goes as far as holding joint sessions of the two factions to discuss the matter.

"We decided to hold joint sessions of the factions, together with Yesh Atid's MKs, that would deal exclusively with the peace process,” a senior member of Livni's party said. “Up until now, Yesh Atid has been dragging its feet on the subject,” the source said. “Now the idea is to sit together with them in order to see how we can push Netanyahu in this direction.”

Initially, Yesh Atid responded positively to Hatnua's overtures, but following an inquiry from Maariv, sources in Yesh Atid reportedly said they would rethink this positive attitude – because no one consulted them about talking to the media.