Yitzhak Herzog
Yitzhak HerzogHadas Parush/Flash 90

A third of his Labor faction MKs may have boycotted his meeting on Sunday, but Opposition head MK Yitzhak Herzog (Zionist Union) didn't fare much better with those who turned out, as they gave him a browbeating for his failed attempt to join the Likud government.

"I have great criticism for the way you managed the process," said MK Tzipi Livni, head of the Hatnua faction of Zionist Union.

"In the partnership between Labor and Hatnua it should have been managed differently."

Labor faction chair MK Merav Michaeli told Herzog, "you put me and us in an impossible position."

In response Herzog tried to defend himself, saying, "I included Livni (in the goings on) and later (Labor MK Eitan) Cabel."

But his assertions did not go down well, with MK Itzik Shmuli responding, "I'm getting the image of a chessboard. You're the king, Tzipi is the queen, Cabel is a rook - and we're all pawns."

"We all need to take a bullet for you, but aren't good enough to keep a secret? I feel betrayed and we all feel betrayed. Take that into account," warned Shmuli.

Herzog's talks on joining a unity government failed as he demanded a unilateral division of Jerusalem, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu turned instead to Yisrael Beytenu head MK Avigdor Liberman to widen the coalition government.

As noted a third of the Labor MKs boycotted the meeting, including Shelly Yechimovich, Erel Margalit, Stav Shaffir, Yossi Yona, Hilik Bar, Miki Rosenthal and Omer Bar-Lev.

Rosenthal issued biting criticism, saying, "I lost confidence in the chairperson of my party and his ability to lead an opposition to Netanyahu. He for his part said I represent a radical left and there is no place for those like me in the party."

"If I'm 'leftist' - then 19 Knesset members of the Zionist Union are also 'leftists' according to Herzog. Ninenteen members of the faction opposed vocally to joining the government."

A growing number of MKs in Herzog's party have called for him to resign in light of the unity government fiasco.