MK Nir Barkat (Likud) on Friday said that there is a real possibility that a government led by the Likud would be formed.
In an interview with the Ofira & Berkovic program which airs on Channel 12, Barkat was reminded by the hosts that Gideon Sa'ar, Benny Gantz, Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Liberman and Yair Lapid are unwilling to be part of a government headed by Likud chairman Netanyahu because of his indictments, and as such Netanyahu does not have a majority to form a government.
Barkat, however, claimed that things have changed in the past year.
"That’s what they said in the previous elections," he said, adding, "The reality has changed and today the right-wingers understand it. I feel it. I heard some of the leadership of the right-wing camp, in Yamina and in New Hope, they do not exactly rule out sitting with Netanyahu. They understand that there will be an election soon and they will be wiped out if they do not join the national camp."
Barkat’s comments follow reports earlier this week that that Gideon Sa’ar is in talks with real estate mogul Yaakov Atrakchi, a confidant of Netanyahu.
Senior officials cited in the report claimed that Sa’ar is considering rejoining the Likud and helping Netanyahu form a new government. Minister Ze’ev Elkin of Sa’ar’s New Hope party is also reportedly taking part in the talks with the Likud.
Sa’ar vehemently denied the reports, telling Channel 12 News, "There were no negotiations with Netanyahu and there will be no negotiations with Netanyahu. Unequivocally, neither I nor Ze'ev Elkin had contacts with Netanyahu."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)