Liberman drops his veto on the ultra-Orthodox, opening a path to a government without Netanyahu

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman said on November 6 that he is ready to sit in government with the ultra-Orthodox parties and to compromise on the law on their military draft, Times of Israel reports. He thereby dropped years of pledges not to do so.

Liberman set three conditions: the Netanyahu era must end, there must be no new election, and the government must not rely on the Arab parties, the Joint List and Ra'am. He also rejected a prime-ministerial rotation with Gadi Eisenkot and warned that a minority government could bring Netanyahu back "with 70 seats".

The numbers at Herzog's

In consultations with President Isaac Herzog, Eisenkot received recommendations from 67 lawmakers and Netanyahu from 46. Minutes after Liberman's statement, Democrats leader Yair Golan spoke of "substantial progress" toward an "emergency national government" to be formed quickly.