70-strong Israeli coalition nearing completion [View all]
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made considerable progress toward building what is set to be a 70-strong coalition, sources close to the negotiations said Friday evening. They stressed, however, that the key deals had yet to be signed, and nothing would be concrete until they were.
The coalition, set to be finalized early next week, will comprise Netanyahu’s Likud-Beytenu (31 seats), Yesh Atid (19), Jewish Home (12), Hatnua (6) and Kadima (2). Labor would lead the opposition, in which the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, would also sit, the sources said.
They added that Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, who had hoped to become foreign minister, will instead serve as finance minister. Jewish Home chief Naftali Bennett will be minister of trade and industry. The Foreign Ministry post will be kept open for former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman, who resigned in December to fight corruption charges and hopes to return quickly to the post after clearing his name.
The defense minister is likely to be former IDF chief of the General Staff Moshe Ya’alon (Likud), housing could well go to Jewish Home’s Uri Ariel, while the same party’s Eli Ben Dahan could take religious affairs, and Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz could become minister of welfare. Many ministerial positions, in a cabinet set to number 23-25 ministers, have yet to be finalized, the sources said.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/70-strong-israeli-coalition-nearing-completion/
Secular parties in, religious parties out. Very interesting.
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