Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman commented on Monday evening on his meeting with Blue and White chairman MK Benny Gantz.
"This afternoon, I met with Blue and White chairman MK Benny Gantz. This was the first time we met after the elections. There were no preliminary meetings with Kobrinsky or anyone else before the meeting today. At the beginning of the meeting, a series of advisers from both sides, including Hillel Kobrinsky, were present, and then we had a private meeting,” Liberman wrote on his Facebook page.
He said all parties understand that there is no escaping a unity government, but its composition should be clear in advance.
"At our meeting, I clarified again what I have been saying since the beginning of the election campaign. As far as Yisrael Beytenu is concerned, there is only one option on the table, and that is the establishment of a unity government of the three parties: Yisrael Beytenu, Likud and Blue and White. To my delight, the two major parties have understood that what is needed at the present is the establishment of a unity government with a rotation in the role of prime minister. The whole debate is currently revolving around the question of who will serve as prime minister first and who will be second. I hope President Rivlin will succeed in bridging the parties and that a decision will be made on the issue," wrote Liberman.
Liberman also pointed out who he would be not willing to sit in a government with. "We will not be part of a government in which the haredim, the Messianists, the Joint List or the democratic Union take part.”
"Our list of demands has not changed and no new things have been added to it. If coalition negotiations start, we will ask for the same clauses that we promised voters during the election campaign. I suggest not listening to the commentaries. Everything that is written in Yisrael Beytenu’s ‘ten commandments’ on religion and state, security and economy can be found on the party's website and was published in the media, more than once, during the election campaign. I wish President Rivlin success in his meeting tonight with the leaders of the two major parties and hope to establish a stable unity government in the near future," he concluded.