"There are several Blue and White MKs that may defect to [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's cabinet after the election," Meretz head and Labor-Gesher-Meretz MK Nitzan Horowitz said at a cultural event on Saturday morning.
Horowitz claimed that his party is "more loyal to [Blue and White head, former IDF chief of staff Benny] Gantz and a transition of power than some parts of Blue and White itself."He continued, calling to vote for the party so "there would be more chance for Gantz to be the next prime minister." He added that "Labor-Gesher-Meretz is the most loyal and stable link in the Center-Left bloc."
Avi Nissenkorn, a Blue and White MK and former General Workers Union director, said at a different cultural event on Saturday that the March 2 election are "a fateful hour for the future of Israel," adding that "if Blue and White will not be the biggest party [in the Knesset], we will wake up to a dangerous reality where Netanyahu crushes everything in his path to avoid a trial."
The Jerusalem District Court set Netanyahu's trial to kick off on March 17, the Court Spokesman’s Office announced last week. Netanyahu was indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust on January 28.
Other Blue and White MKs reiterated the importance of the amount of seats the party will get on March 2, with MK Meir Shalev calling next week's election "the most important [in the history of] the country."MK Ofer Shelach said, "What is at stake is no less than Israel's future as a democracy."
He added that "Netanyahu's personal involvement in a nasty scam for [Gantz's advisor] Israel Bacher shows the lows Bibi has reached."In a recording published by Channel 12 on Thursday evening, Bacher is heard calling Gantz "a danger to the people of Israel."
Labor-Gesher-Meretz head and former defense minister MK Amir Peretz outlined on Saturday a possible center-left minority government that would consist of Blue and White and Labor-Gesher-Meretz, with former defense minister Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu and the Arab minority's Joint List's "external support."
"First an inauguration of a government of Labor-Gesher-Meretz with Blue and White, and if Liberman and the Joint List keep the mutual rejections, they will have to support it from the outside until the cabinet is formed."
At a Saturday event in the Arab village of Taybeh, Joint List faction head MK Ahmad Tibi said that the list "is getting close to 15-16 seats and there is an awakening in the Arab street."He added that the party is "willing to do a lot for a change in the State of Israel that would lead to coexistence with no incitement or segregation."