Silman offered reserved slot on Likud slate, promise of health portfolio

Yamina’s Idit Silman has reached an agreement with the Likud party in which she would receive a reserved spot on the party slate and would be made health minister in a potential government, according to Hebrew-language media reports.

There is no public comment from Silman on the reports, which appear to have come from information leaked by Likud.

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to back Silman when she announced she was leaving the coalition, saying he wished to “congratulate her on behalf of the masses of the people of Israel who yearned for this moment.”

Silman, who served as coalition whip until her dramatic announcement this morning, also held the position of head of the Knesset’s Health Committee.

She clashed this week with Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz for ordering hospitals to allow patients and visitors to bring hametz, or non-kosher-for-Passover food, onto their premises during the upcoming Passover holiday — though the minister was only instructing institutions to abide by a previous top court ruling on the matter.