Netanyahu in race against clock to please Likud ministers
At least 1 senior MK may get stuck without a job as PM hands out posts before government sworn in Thursday evening; Deri appointment may be problematic
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to spend much of Thursday trying to satisfy as many senior Likud lawmakers as he can with a handful of ministerial positions before the government is formed.
The new ruling coalition headed by Netanyahu was scheduled to be sworn in at the Knesset Thursday evening at 7 p.m.
One major issue still outstanding is will be which of the three senior 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 Gilad Erdan, Likud’s No. 2, and senior party member Silvan Shalom want the Foreign Ministry post vacated by Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, who chose not to join the government. Yuval Steinitz, another veteran Likudnik, is also expecting a senior post.
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, whom he reserved the 11th spot on the party list ahead of the March elections.
On Wednesday evening, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz was reappointed to his post, and was also given the intelligence minister portfolio, with a coveted seat on the security cabinet.
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 economics 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, which could be drawn up due to Deri’s appointment as a minister.”
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.”
