Former UN ambassador and ex-Likud minister Gilad Erdan and Likud MK Yuli Edelstein have reached initial agreements regarding the potential establishment of a new political party together, with “significant progress” reportedly made in recent talks, a report said Wednesday.

According to Channel 12, which did not cite sources, the two are working together closely and waiting on former finance minister Moshe Kahlon to decide whether to join the initiative once court proceedings against him for securities fraud end next week with a plea bargain.

Erdan and Edelstein are in talks with other right-wing figures about joining the party, according to the report, including former Beit Shemesh mayor Aliza Bloch, former IDF general Ofer Winter, who is widely expected to enter politics, and former fire commissioner Dedi Simchi, who has said that he will run for the Knesset. But the network said matters are uncertain, particularly regarding the latter two.

Decisions are expected to be made in the next two weeks, the report said.

Erdan, Edelstein, and Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel have all been mentioned in recent weeks in reports about the possible formation of a new party tentatively dubbed “Likud B,” aimed at creating a more “statesmanlike” alternative to the ruling party, which would eschew some of the extreme populist........

© The Times of Israel