Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman, Yashar! with Eisenkot chairman MK Gadi Eisenkot, and Democrats chairman MK Yair Golan announced Saturday night following a meeting that the group of party leaders would become a permanent forum.
They stated that the next meeting will take place immediately after Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).
“The party leaders expect Naftali Bennett and Benny Gantz to join the upcoming meetings,” the statement read.
At the meeting, it was agreed to establish a professional body “that will deal with the basic principles of the next government, the drafting of a constitution, [military or national] service for all, and preserving the character of the State of Israel as a Jewish, democratic, and Zionist state.”
Absent from the meeting were former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett — who said he was attending a memorial for his father, though political sources assessed that he does not wish to be associated with the forum; and Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz, who for now is distancing himself from the bloc opposing the government.