Despite the disappointing election results, the Bayit Yehudi party is likely to seek three cabinet appointments in coalition negotiations with Likud. Two of the posts are senior cabinet positions.
Bayit Yehudi has eight seats in the 20th Knesset and party leader Naftali Bennett plans to become a senior minister and the party will seek ministerial appointments for Uri Ariel and Ayelet Shaked as well.
Bennett will be vying to become the defense minister and if that is not doable, he will opt for foreign minister. Ariel serves as housing minister in the outgoing government. Perhaps he will seek to continue. Shaked announced prior to elections that she wishes to serve as the minister of public security.
It is not likely that PM Netanyahu will take the defense minister portfolio from Moshe Ya’alon, which would leave Bennett with the Foreign Ministry option, which Yisrael Beitenu leader Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has already announced is a deal breaker for him. He stated that if he does not continue in the post, his party and its six seats will move to the opposition. This would leave the prime minister with an extremely narrow coalition of 61 instead of 67,
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
Chutzpah. If all parties got that percentage of cabinet seats relative to voting strength, they would need a 25 member cabinet. Bayit Yehudi did poorly in the election, and should be a little bit less demanding, since Likud does have other option (being offered the job as foreign minister might make Herzog inclined to reconsider his announced intention of being Head of the Opposition).