Zionist Camp MKs Slam Herzog Over Alleged Meeting With PM

MKs in the Zionist Camp engaged in a sharp exchange of accusations over the weekend after reports emerged that Yitzchak Herzog had met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last week to discuss bringing the party into the government. Speaking Motzoei Shabbos, MK Stav Shafir said that Zionist Camp had no place in the government. “Instead, our job is to change this failed government in order to build a more secure future for Israelis. Anyone who has given up on the idea that we have the ability to overcome the Right is welcome to go home.”

MK Erel Margalit, seen as a chief opponent of Herzog and prime contender for his position, said that “the Labor Party cannot return to the attempts to strengthen and save the failing Netanyahu government. The government has lost control of the prices of housing, the economy and personal security, and is on the way to complete destruction of the diplomatic relationship between Israel and the United States and other allies. All this, together with the investigations of the prime minister, scream out to the heavens that Netanyahu must not be saved, that he must be removed, and the sooner the better.

“Labor must be rebuilt in order to prepare it to lead the country,” added Margalit. “Our task is to unite the large camp and restore the hope to return the country to a normal path, other than the one paved by Netanyahu and the radicals who have taken over the government.”

Herzog, in a post on social media in response to Shafir’s and Margalit’s comments, claimed that no meeting had taken place. A media report was sent out and the MKs responded to it, he wrote. “It’s a shame,” he added.

MK Amir Peretz, who had previously attacked Herzog for meeting with Netanyahu, said over the weekend that he now believes the party head’s version of events. In a statement, his office said that “Herzog denies meeting with Netanyahu, and this time MK Peretz believes him. In general, MK Peretz opposes negotiations to include Labor in the government and believes that the government must be changed.”