Deputy Defense Minister Avi Dichter (Likud) intends to boycott the vote in the Knesset on the new government, after he was not offered a ministerial role and was not even invited to a meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
In an interview on Channel 12 News on Thursday, Dichter said, "I received an insulting offer that I rejected outright. I can't be in the top ten on the Likud slate and not receive a minister's job. I was promised a meeting with Netanyahu, I waited until Thursday at 5:00 p.m. and didn’t even get a hint of a sign that I’m about to be invited.”
The senior Likud official sent an implicit threat to Netanyahu, saying, "It is impossible to skip the top ten in the Likud. This will cause an 8.0-magnitude earthquake on the Dichter scale." He added that "anyone who thinks the primaries are over is making a grave mistake."
"I really value the members of the Likud, but we are a democratic party and such a move cannot happen," the Deputy Minister added. "Three days ago I was sent a messenger with an insulting offer that I rejected outright."
Newly appointed coalition chairman MK Miki Zohar tried to explain the conduct of the Prime Minister and said, "I have no doubt that he will sit with Dichter and do everything he can to please him. He couldn't sit down with everyone, which is why he contacted [Benny] Gantz and asked him to postpone the swearing-in ceremony."