Report: Coalition mulling appointment of two more ministers to further stabilize government

The coalition is considering appointing two more ministers in a bid to further stabilize the government, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

According to the outlet, far-right MK Avi Maoz — the sole lawmaker representing the anti-LGBTQ, anti-feminist and anti-pluralist Noam party — who as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office oversaw educational vendors who supplement curricula in public schools by way of his Jewish National Identity Office until he resigned last week, will become a minister with those same powers and a larger budget.

Additionally, the report says that under the plan, far-right Otzma Yehudit MK Zvika Fogel will become intelligence minister — the intelligence ministry was closed last year and would therefore be reestablished.

The elevation of Fogel would allow him to resign his Knesset seat, thus permitting Zvi Sukkot of far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party to return to the Knesset.

When Amichai Eliyahu became heritage minister in 2023, Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer became an MK under the so-called Norwegian Law, which allows ministers and deputy ministers from large factions to resign from the Knesset, with their seats filled by members of their parties.

However, Eliyahu’s resignation from the cabinet earlier this year did not push Kroizer out of the Knesset. Instead, it forced the resignation of Sukkot, who held a lower spot on the two parties’ joint electoral list in the 2022 legislative election.

According to Kan, no members of Otzma Yehudit have agreed to resign to let Sukkot return.

The report says that if Otzma Yehudit gains another ministry, Smotrich will be granted additional powers. No further details were given.

In 2023, the Finance Ministry reportedly recommended closing 10 superfluous government ministries to cover the wartime budget shortfall.