BICOM

The potential outline for a package deal to extend negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, which might include the release of the fourth tranche of Palestinian prisoners and a partial freeze of settlement construction, is beginning to deepen cracks in Israel’s ruling coalition, with Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett threatening to quit the coalition.

Prime Minister Netanyahu cancelled a meeting with Bennett on Sunday night, and in an interview to Israeli Channel 2, Bennett repeated his threat to quit the government should prisoners with Israeli citizenship be released.  Likud officials responded that no one was keeping Bennett in the government by force with Netanyahu quoted as saying: “I don’t want to hold new elections and I don’t want the current crisis … But I also won’t kill myself and I don’t intend to move mountains in order to change Bennett’s opinion on the matter.”

The potential withdrawal of the Jewish Home party could in theory be offset by bringing the Israeli Labour party into the coalition. While Labour leader Isaac Herzog has previously said he would support the government over the peace process, he last week joined calls for fresh elections. Should Jewish Home quit, an added political challenge to Netanyahu could be posed by the potential resignation of several hard-line Knesset members from his own Likud party. These include, Yariv Levin, Danny Danon and Moshe Feiglin, who would find it difficult to remain in the government if the Jewish Home party left and a deal was reached with the Palestinians which included a partial settlement freeze.

As discussions continue to extend negotiations with the Palestinians, Netanyahu finds himself caught between conflicting pressures from within his own coalition. Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua party and members of Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party have said that they are opposed to remaining in the coalition in the absence of a political process with the Palestinians.