The Shas party was displeased with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement on Saturday that he would prefer having a Likud member as housing and construction minister in the next government, a position held in the current government by Shas MK Ariel Atias.

Netanyahu's statement caused some in Shas to worry that the party would be excluded from a future coalition.

"Netanyahu knows that we want to keep the housing and construction portfolio for Shas," a senior party official said. "We aren't sure whether this statement was a one-time thing or whether the prime minister intends to build a government without Shas."

Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef also responded to Netanyahu's statement, saying, "They [Likud members] were always the housing and construction ministers, and they didn't do anything. They sat at home, smoking water pipes. Our housing and construction minister worked day and night."

Politicians from across the spectrum have previously accused Shas of favoring its ultra-Orthodox constituency, using the housing and construction ministry to ensure housing projects for Shas voters took priority over those for the rest of the population.