A number of days after being passed over to become the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee MK (Yesh Atid) Ofir Shelach announced that he was offered to become the deputy defense minister by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Maariv reports that Shelach was offered the post so the prime minister could rid himself of the current deputy minister, Danny Danon, whose has been critical of the prime minister’s policies regarding the release of terrorists from prison and other decisions.

Shelach made the comment during a Shabbos cultural event in Tel Aviv in response to a question if he will rotate as the head of the prestigious Knesset committee.

Danon has become a thorn in the prime minister’s backside due to his open criticism against coalition policy decisions, which many feel have strayed from the Likud’s right-wing platform. In one of his statements released to the media, Danon stated that if the government approves another terrorist release, he would resign his post in protest. He also stated that the current coalition’s days may be numbered.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)