Channel 10 News revealed on Sunday evening that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog have been drafting an announcement on a freeze on construction in Judea and Samaria.
The report is in line with an earlier report in the Ma’ariv newspaper which said that Herzog’s demand for a formal, comprehensive freeze on construction in Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria was a sticking point in the coalition talks between the sides.
The announcement would not mean much, however, since there already is a de facto construction freeze in Judea and Samaria.
It appears then that the goal of the statement would be to provide a "headline" for the Labor party’s central committee to approve the party joining the coalition.
Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu said that he intends to approach Yisrael Beytenu and ask it to join his government.
“I intend to come out publicly and call on [Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor] Liberman – join a rightist government right and disconnect from [Hanin] Zoabi,” Netanyahu told his cabinet ministers.
But Liberman was unimpressed by the call and blasted Netanyahu over his efforts to create a unity government with the Zionist Union.
"All of Netanyahu's spins do not change one simple fact: that again, in stark contrast to what he had promised during elections, he is negotiating with [Zionist Union chairmen Yitzhak] Herzog and Tzipi [Livni] - the same party that, only a year ago, he called 'not Zionist'," Liberman fumed on Facebook.
"It is not surprising that the Netanyahu government is not a right-wing government: it is not fighting terrorism but containing it, and telling the citizens of Israel that this is a decree from heaven; it's not building Jerusalem or the settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria; it's returning the bodies of terrorists; and in short, any connection between it and the national camp is definitely coincidental," he added.