Miri Regev named culture minister, Danon takes science portfolio

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday was finalizing his cabinet appointments ahead of the evening’s swearing-in, announcing that MK Miri Regev will serve as culture and sports minister, MK Danny Danon as science and technology minister, MK Haim Katz as welfare minister, and MK Yariv Levin as tourism minister.

MK Tzipi Hotovely will serve as deputy foreign minister.

It is widely speculated that Netanyahu is keeping the position of foreign minister open for the time being in an effort to woo either Yisrael Beytenu’s Avigdor Liberman or Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog into the coalition at some point. Until the position is filled, Hotovely will effectively serve as Israel’s top diplomat under Netanyahu.

The prime minister also announced that Ofir Akunis would be appointed a minister and hold a position within the Communications Ministry, but would not head it, as Netanyahu is also keeping the communications portfolio.

Earlier, Netanyahu named Likud MK Yuval Steinitz 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 headed in the outgoing 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 cabinet is finalized.

Officials in the party indicated that either Gilad Erdan or Silvan Shalom, both senior Likud lawmakers with their eyes set on the Foreign Ministry, would be left without a portfolio.

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

Moshe Ya’alon will keep his post as defense minister, Netanyahu said

The new ruling coalition headed by Netanyahu is 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.

Netanyahu has said he wants to form a cabinet with 20 ministers to allow adequate representation for all five parties in his coalition.

Erdan, who won the second spot, after Netanyahu, in the Likud primaries ahead of the election in March, met with the prime minister twice on Wednesday and rebuffed his 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 report in the news site NRG, 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.

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

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 election.

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

Kara, who was later reported to have been fully conscious at the hospital, 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 with accepting bribes, fraud and breach of trust. Deri was convicted and sent to prison in 2000 for three years.