No, Aryeh Deri will not be the next prime minister – but not because he wasn’t offered the position. According to a Yisrael Hayom report on Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in a last-minute bid to form a coalition before his mandate expires, has made several offers to politicians to serve as prime ministers in a rotational agreement, including Shas chairman Aryeh Deri. The report said that Netanyahu sent an offer to Deri that he would serve as prime minister first in a rotational agreement. Deri refused the offer and a statement from his office on Sunday evening said: “Minister Deri is not interested in the position of prime minister.” The report added that senior Likud officials are pressuring Deri to reconsider. Netanyahu also made two separate offers to Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett and Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz to serve as prime minister in a rotational agreement, with Bennett or Gantz serving in the position the first year, while Netanyahu serves as the alternate prime minister. Netanyahu would then serve the next two years, with Bennett or Gantz serving in the position the last year. Netanyahu is hoping that if a different candidate serves first as prime minister, the “anyone but Bibi” politicians will join his coalition, namely Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party. On Monday morning, senior New Hope member MK Sharren Haskel was asked about the possibility of her party entering a Netanyahu government with a rotational agreement in place for the position of prime minister, and she responded: “It depends on the rotational agreement. We won’t fall for Netanyahu’s tricks.” “We won’t allow Netanyahu to continue to control us in one way or another,” Haskell continued. “We’ll consider and are already considering offers proposed to us but we won’t fall into a trap like Gantz and his associates.” “We’re receiving numerous proposals. Some we’re rejecting because the gaps are too large and some we can examine in one way or another. But first Netanyahu needs to internalize that the story is over. The options are open but we won’t be fooled.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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