Labor party chairman Avi Gabbay on Thursday discussed the tempting offer he had received from Binyamin Netanyahu: Join the government and receive the defense portfolio as well as other positions for Labor members.
"I will not say again that I will never sit with Netanyahu," Gabbay said in an interview with Channel 12 News. "If I had a doubt for one moment that he was using us, I would not have entered the room."
"My demands were a complete change in the rhetoric against the law enforcement agencies. As early as Sunday, it was clear that Liberman was not joining the coalition and I arrived at the meeting [with Netanyahu] with many conditions."
According to Gabbay, Netanyahu offered him a "total veto power on issues related to the courts. We wanted to consider the offer, and in the end, we said no. I saw an opportunity to stop the erosion of democracy and the laws."
Gabbay regrets having promised during the election campaign not to sit in a government led by Netanyahu. "That was my worldview. I know one thing today - I will not say anything like that again, because you never know what situation you're going to find yourself in."
Regarding the possibility of resigning from the leadership of the Labor party or from political life, Gabbay said, "We will be holding primaries in about a month. I will make my decision until then."