Rivlin to task Netanyahu with forming Israel's next government

Behind-the-scenes wrangling over political appointments intensified on Wednesday as President Reuven Rivlin was due to officially appoint Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next government.

With 67 Knesset members now recommending the Likud leader for the premiership, Netanyahu will have a slim majority and has a month to outline his cabinet posts after Riviln officially asks him to form a new government. The deadline can be extended if necessary.

Netanyahu on Tuesday said that he would make Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon - who has long made economic and cost-of-living issues a cornerstone of his party’s policy - the new finance minister.

Kahlon is a former Likud member who served as Communications Minister and Welfare Minister in previous Netanyahu administrations. In 2013, he left Likud before forming his own party late last year. Before Tuesday’s meeting, the two former Likud colleagues, had not directly met in a year-and-a-half.   

Party sources told Haaretz that Kahlon is also hoping to scoop up a third of all cabinet seats. Having only secured 10 seats in last Tuesday’s elections, compared to Likud’s 30, this could prove to be a big request from the centrist Kulanu.

If granted, this would amount to three ministerial portfolios, including Kahlon at finance and Yoav Galant at internal security or strategic and intelligence affairs. Either of these jobs would put Galant in the inner cabinet, strengthening Kahlon’s position in the coalition.

The third ministerial portfolio, according to Kulanu sources, could go either to Avi Gabay, a Kahlon associate who was not on the party’s Knesset slate, or to the party’s No. 3, Eli Alaluf. Gabay was CEO of telecommunications giant Bezeq for six years during Kahlon’s tenure as communications minister and Yoav Galant at internal security or strategic and intelligence affairs.

Israeli journalist and analyst Dimi Reider told MEE last week that while the finance ministry was a natural fit for Kahlon, Netanyahu could be handing over the post to him so early in the game in hopes that the challenges of the post would damage his reputation.

It is not clear if Kulanu will stick to its demand for the Knesset Finance Committee chairmanship. Likud sources told Haaretz that discussion is underway to appoint United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni to the position, in return for his agreement to advance the economic reforms Kahlon is planning.

Defence highly sought after

The highly-coveted defence portfolio, is also proving to be a topic of much speculation.

Far-right Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) party leader and outgoing Minister of Religious Affairs Naftali Bennett is bidding to secure the position and is also asking for the education and religious affairs portfolios, his party said.

But after the Jewish Home’s electoral power decreased to eight seats in the recent election, analysts have suggested that this ambitious outreach could be just a negotiating tactic, with a source close to Bennett admitting that “it’s clear to us that we will not get the defence ministry”.

Likud member Moshe Ya’alon - who is the current defence minister - is the favourite to retain his position. Likud sources said Tuesday that “the three most senior ministries – defence, foreign affairs and finance – [are] from the ruling party. At least one of them will have to remain in our hands.”

Likud sources have made it clear in the past few days that Habayit Hayehudi’s decrease in electoral power will mean that Bennett must compromise substantially. “There is no reason for an 8-seat party to get more than two portfolios,” a senior party official clarified. “We will be willing to consider three portfolios if Bennett retreats from his demand to receive a senior portfolio such as Foreign Affairs or Defence.”

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, whose ultra-nationalist party Yisrael Beitanu won only six seats, also covets the defence ministerial post but will most likely retain his current job. He has declined to say whether he would compromise on a more junior position.

Shas for the Religious Affairs position

Demands for the religious affairs portfolio, currently held by Bennett, is also likely to complicate the coalition negotiations. Ultra-orthodox Shas leader Arye Deri has said he plans to demand it for himself along with the Interior Ministry which he will demand that his party hold.

Meanwhile, Shas chairman Arye Deri is considering requesting two cabinet portfolios just for himself in the next government. If Shas is allotted two portfolios in the coalition negotiations, he could ask to head both the interior and religious affairs ministries.

Deri has not made a final decision, but giving him two portfolios might be a solution for Netanyahu, who faces a legal limit of 18 ministers in his incoming government, a result of legislation passed in the outgoing Knesset by Deri’s political nemesis, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid.

Deri apparently reasons that if he takes the two portfolios himself, it will pave the way for some deputy-minister slots for Shas, which would solidify his status as party leader.

As Deri gears up to enter the new government, following a Knesset term in the opposition, petitions have been circulating on the Internet calling on Netanyahu not to bring him into the cabinet because of his 1999 conviction for taking bribes and breach of trust. Deri served almost two years in jail as a result.

Yair Lapid appealed to Netanyahu not to give Deri the position and wrote on his Facebook page, “Do not leave the public purse in the hands of such a person, Mr Prime Minister. This is everyone’s money.”