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RT.com<\/p>\n
In a public blow to coalition-building efforts in Israel, hidden-camera recordings of a potential political partner accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being a \u201cpower-hungry dictator\u201d have been aired on local television.<\/p>\n
One-time Netanyahu staffer Ayelet Shaked, now a senior Knesset member from the Yamina party but who is rumored to be eyeing a return to the premier\u2019s Likud party, also said the embattled PM was obsessed about his ongoing corruption trial.<\/p>\n
The recordings, which were broadcast by Channel 12 on Monday, came as Netanyahu was engaged in a last-ditch attempt to entice Yamina into a right-wing coalition with a rotational power-sharing agreement \u2013 ahead of his Tuesday night deadline for government formation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wants to remain in power. He has a lust for power \u2013 he and his wife. They\u2019re like tyrants, like dictators. They\u2019re not prepared to move aside,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0said Shaked, who made the comments at a meeting on Monday with a group of rabbis, one of whom recorded her, according to the Maariv newspaper.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only thing he cares about now is his trial. He absolutely does not care about anything else. It\u2019s true\u2026 all his considerations, his behavior, his comportment \u2013 all revolve around his trial,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0she said, adding that Netanyahu was too\u00a0\u201cparanoid\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cscared\u201d<\/em> to ask for a pardon and plea bargain.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s true that [Netanyahu] has to go. He has to go,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0added Shaked, who indicated that Yamina is hoping for a power-sharing deal whereby its leader Naftali Bennett will become prime minister for one-and-a-half years followed by a two-and-half-year Netanyahu premiership.<\/p>\n Despite securing only seven seats in the March polls, Yamina has become a potential kingmaker. Bennett has said that he will support a Netanyahu-led, right-wing government if the PM has the votes, but will work toward a unity government with centrist and left-leaning parties without him if he does not.<\/p>\n In a video statement released via his Twitter account on Monday, Netanyahu said,\u00a0\u201cI told [Bennett] I am willing to accept his demand for a rotation deal in which he will serve first as prime minister for one year. Yamina party members will enter the government and Knesset with important roles.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n