Steinitz named energy minister, Ya’alon to stay in defense post

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that he would appoint Likud MK Yuval Steinitz as the new government’s minister of energy and infrastructure, after indicating Wednesday that fellow party member Yisrael Katz would receive the intelligence portfolio along with the Transportation Ministry which he had headed in the past cabinet.

The appointments came as Netanyahu spent much of Thursday trying to satisfy as many senior Likud lawmakers as he could with a handful of ministerial positions before the government is formed.

Indications within the party indicated that MKs Gilad Erdan and Silvan Shalom, both senior lawmakers with their eyes on the Foreign Ministry, would be left without any portfolio, Israel Radio reported.

Both Katz and Steinitz will also be appointed to the government’s security cabinet, according to announcements.

Moshe Ya’alon will keep his place as defense minister, Netanyahu said, according to media reports, and Ofir Akunis will be given a ministerial position related to the Communications ministry, though Netanyahu himself will hold the Communications Ministry post.

The new ruling coalition headed by Netanyahu was scheduled to be sworn in at the Knesset Thursday evening at 7 p.m. Netanyahu has until then to wrap up consultations with lawmakers and finish divvying up positions.

One major issue still outstanding is which Likud MKs won’t be appointed to a ministership, and who will be stuck with the important but trying position of coalition chairman, NRG reported.

Netanyahu has said he wants to form a cabinet with 20 ministers to allow adequate representation for all five parties in his coalition, but he’s already promised eight of those spots to other parties.

Both Erdan, Likud’s No. 2, and Shalom want the Foreign Ministry post vacated by Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, who chose not to join the government.

Erdan met with Netanyahu twice on Wednesday and rebuffed the prime minister’s demand that he continue serving as interior minister.

According to Channel 2, Erdan proposed uniting the Interior and Public Security Ministries into a French-style office that sees domestic planning and public security as two sides of the same coin.

Netanyahu was loath, however, to lose two posts to one candidate when he is already dealing with 17 lawmakers competing for just 12 portfolios.

According to an NRG report, however, Erdan was offered the public security, culture and sports, and strategic affairs ministries, plus responsibility for the Israel Broadcasting Authority and a seat on the security cabinet. It wasn’t clear, however, whether Erdan would accept.

The two were expected to meet again Thursday, though Likud sources said it was possible Erdan might sit out of the government if Netanyahu doesn’t satisfy his demands.

The new appointments were rumored to include Ze’ev Elkin as absorption minister, Yariv Levin as tourism minister, Miri Regev in the Culture and Sports Ministry and Ofir Akunis at communications. Netanyahu will also have to find a position for Benny Begin, for whom he reserved the 11th spot on the party list ahead of the March elections.

Likud MK Ayoub Kara, also gunning for a top post, was rushed from the Knesset to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital for tests after complaining of pains in his chest.

Kara, who was later reported to have been fully conscious at the hospital, had stated in recent days that he expects to be appointed as a minister in Netanyahu’s government.

Netanyahu may still face other problems with his coalition partners, despite having hammered out final agreements to form a coalition last week.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein told Netanyahu Wednesday that he’d have a hard time defending the appointment of Shas party leader Aryeh Deri as a minister in the High Court, in light of Deri’s criminal record.

Deri served as interior minister from 1988 to 1993 under Likud prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, but resigned after he was charged — and later convicted — of accepting bribes, fraud and breach of trust. Deri was jailed in 2000 and served a three-year sentence.

According to the coalition agreement reached between Likud and Shas, however, Netanyahu agreed to appoint Deri economy minister in the new government.

While Weinstein said that there was no legal impediment to appointing the Shas leader a minister, “it’s a decision which raises legal problems, and that’s in light of his serious criminal past and the damage to public confidence and the virtue and integrity of government activity.”

The Shas party responded to Weinstein’s remarks, saying that there “was absolutely no legal impediment to appointing the chairman of the movement, Rabbi Aryeh Deri, as economy minister.”