“If I’m in the Cabinet, I can work together with [Defense Minister] Moshe Ya’alon to strengthen the moderate voices contending with [Education Minister] Naftali Bennett.” According to senior political sources speaking on condition of anonymity, Labor head Isaac Herzog made that statement mid-May in talks he had with party insiders, including Knesset members. He is working to convince them to join the Netanyahu government. Herzog tried to explain that now more than ever, the Labor Party is crucial to the government as only it can stop the far right and potentially change the harsh international attitude toward Israel.

On May 15, Channel 10 News broadcast a recording of a parlor meeting in which Herzog was heard explaining why it's so essential for his party to join the government. Among other things, Herzog said, “I have identified a rare regional diplomatic opportunity that may vanish and not return. I don’t say this based on nothing, but based on knowledge. I don’t know if it will happen. But it could be that it will happen only due to a change in the government’s composition. If it's allowed to talk to [Palestinian President] Mahmoud Abbas, it's allowed to talk to [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.”

These comments come in the context of a major uproar in the Labor Party over the past few days over whether the party should join the Netanyahu government. Netanyahu actually called on Yisrael Beitenu Chair Avigdor Liberman to “disengage” from opposition Knesset member Haneen Zoabi and join the government, but Liberman rejected the offer with utter contempt.

Strangely, Netanyahu has yet to make any concrete and viable proposals for bringing Labor into his government. He has sent out feelers over the past few months and put a general proposal dealing mainly with the division of Cabinet posts on the table. On the other hand, Netanyahu has made it clear that he has no plans to change the composition of the government or to get rid of HaBayit HaYehudi just so that the Labor Party can join his coalition. Nor does he plan to leave the diplomatic negotiations to Herzog.