President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday received the signatures of 72 members of Knesset who support Benjamin Netanyahu to be the next prime minister.
The signatories were MKs from Likud, Blue and White, Derech Eretz (MKs Yoaz Hendel, Zvika Hauser), Labor (other than MK Meirav Michaeli), and Orly Levy-Abekasis. Stull unsigned were members of the Yamina party, due to tensions with the prime minister over the allotment of ministerial portfolios.
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Likud and Blue and White, meanwhile, which are set to divide most of the portfolios among themselves, were still at odds over the Health Ministry. Blue and White officials want the portfolio and to appoint a medical professional as next minister – Prof. Yitshak Kreiss, the director-general of Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. The party is willing to give back two minor portfolios in return, but Likud officials want a more significant return for the Health portfolio.
Regardless, the coming week is expected to be extremely tense within the Likud as Netanyahu launches discussions with his party mates before dividing the portfolios, as the 58 members of the impending coalition's right-wing bloc will have to suffice with just 15 ministers. The Likud's 36 MKs will only have between 10-12 ministerial posts to fill, which is stoking considerable stress within the party ranks.
The portfolio in hot demand remains the Public Protection Ministry currently held by Gilad Erdan, but Miri Regev and Amir Ohana have both been mentioned as potential successors. The Transportation Ministry is also in play for all three.
In all likelihood, Yariv Levin will be appointed next Speaker of the Knesset, Israel Katz will be named Finance Minister, and Yoav Gallant and Avi Dichter view themselves as candidates for a security portfolio, such as the Ministry of Intelligence Affairs. Ofir Akunis would like to remain in place as head of the Ministry of Science and Technology or be named Israel's next ambassador to the United Nations. Yuval Steinitz is expected to stay at the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, Zeev Elkin will likely stay at the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Yamina, meanwhile, was still at odds over the number of ministerial posts the party would receive in exchange for joining the coalition. Party officials – following a Thursday afternoon meeting between Chairman Naftali Bennett and Netanyahu – said they have no intention of being an expendable entity in the next government. According to the officials, based on Netanyahu's answers to Bennett, the party will not join the government.
Likud officials argue that Yamina, which received six mandates in the last election, deserves the equivalent of 1.5 portfolios.
Yamina officials were angrily rejecting the offer, saying it doesn't reflect "true partnership in the [right-wing] bloc]," which Netanyahu vowed throughout the past year.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has viewed the religious-Zionist camp as a senior, important and strategic partner for years and therefore is working to bring it into the government this time as well," said one Likud official. "To our regret, thus far every proposal presented by the Likud to Yamina has been met with resistance because every Yamina MK sees himself as a senior minister. The Likud can't give five portfolios to a party with six mandates. Yamina needs to display national responsibility and joint the government."
