Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home), who voted against the maritime agreement with Lebanon when it was brought for a vote in the government, requested that Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett veto the agreement - but Bennett refused, Kan News reported Thursday morning.
The coalition deal signed between Bennett and Prime Minister Yair Lapid gives Bennett the power to veto the deal, if he chooses to do so.
According to Bennett, bringing the agreement for a Knesset vote would lead to it not being approved, causing Israel to pay a steep diplomatic price at a problematic time for it.
Sources close to Bennett have voiced questions about Shaked's behavior, noting that she only requested the veto a day before the government vote, when the issue had already been closed and agreed-upon. In their opinion, her request seems to stem from political motives.
On Wednesday, Shaked said, "If it were up to me - I would veto this agreement, so long as it has not been brought for a Knesset vote."
"Lapid wanted to reach a political achievement and therefore compromised with Lebanon and Nasrallah. The only thing missing was the Yesh Atid jingle in the background.
"And one more word about the left-wing side in the government that makes sure to speak all the time in the name of the values of democracy. There is a trampling of Israeli democracy here. If Netanyahu had reached such an agreement, three weeks before elections, Lapid and his friends would have shouted that this is the end of democracy."