Ayelet Shaked
Ayelet ShakedFlash90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is considering bringing Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked into the Likud and reserving a spot high on the Likud’s Knesset list if the country heads to new elections this year, Kan reported Wednesday morning.

Citing senior Likud officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, the report claims that Netanyahu hopes to bring more right-wing voters to the Likud by bringing in Shaked and giving her a senior position within the party if the current Knesset is dissolved and new elections scheduled.

A spokesperson for the prime minister said that no decision had been made with regards to bringing Shaked into the Likud, while Shaked herself did not respond to the report.

Earlier this week, Shaked denied claims that she was considering running with former Defense Minister Avidgor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party.

A source in Yisrael Beytenu told News 13 that the meeting between Shaked and Liberman was one of the reasons Liberman does not fear new elections. Rumors claimed the the source was implying that Liberman and Shaked would run in a joint list.

Sources close to Shaked said she and Liberman have been very friendly for a long time, and that they met privately several times in the past. However, they also said Shaked is interested in joining the leading Likud party.

"I thought this would be my parting speech, and that I would leave the Justice Ministry next week. But politics has its own rules and we can't know what will happen by Wednesday. What I can say is that yesterday's rumors about me are incorrect,” the Justice Minister said in response to the rumors of a run with Yisrael Beytenu.