Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appoints the Union of Right-Wing Parties’ Rafi Peretz and Bezalel Smotrich as ministers in his interim cabinet.
Peretz receives the education portfolio and Smotrich snags the Transportation Ministry, according to the Likud party.
Smotrich is also made a member of the high-level security cabinet and Peretz receives observer status.
“The sides agreed to fully uphold the status quo on matters of religion and state as was custom in Israel for decades,” the statement says. Likud and URWP also agreed to maintain their “deep partnership” in the upcoming September elections.
Netanyahu recently angered Smotrich after giving the Justice Ministry coveted by the URWP No. 2 to Likud MK Amir Ohana. The move came after Smotrich voiced support for Israel being governed by Jewish religious law.
Bezalel Smotrich (R) and Rafi Peretz (L) of the Union of Right Wing Parties hold a press conference after a meeting with President Reuven Rivlin at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on April 16, 2019, (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll gain access to some amazing Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel ten years ago - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
comments