As coalition negotiations continue on without any final deals agreed upon, Interior Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) vented Likud’s frustrations with partner parties involved in the talks. 

Appearing on Channel Ten’s “London and Kirschenbaum” program, Erdan asserted that smaller parties are getting positions entitled to Likud members only because of the pressure they are exerting on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

“It appears that the interior, education, housing, and health portfolios will not be held by Likud,” Erdan said. “It worries me and it should also concern Likud voters who wanted the Prime Minister to manage the country through his party.”

Erdan even went so far as to suggest that if the small parties do not let up on their demands, Netanyahu should turn to the Left to scare them into obedience. 

“I don’t think a unity government is preferable. We should stick to what we promised the public and establish a national government. But if the demands of the small parties continue to remain unreasonable, and time passes, then it is also legitimate for the Prime Minister to deliver a generous offer to the Zionist Union,” Erdan asserted.  

“Maybe this will send a clear message to those parties with extravagant demands,” he added. 

The Interior Minister, angling to receive a more advanced position in Netanyahu’s latest Likud-led government, also made it clear that he does not agree with the Prime Minister’s decision to appoint Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman to a second term in office. 

“In this case, I do not represent the opinion of the Prime Minister,” Erdan explained. “I remember during Operation Protective Edge the Foreign Minister held a press conference in which he went against the position of his government.”