As coalition negotiations continue, it appears Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is being increasingly generous in his offer to bring the Shas party on board.
As reported earlier, while it appears Deri will receive the Interior Ministry as he requests, the ministry’s District Planning Committee will be handed over to the Kulanu party to permit Moshe Kahlon to advance his nationwide housing reform plan. Seeking to get Shas leader Aryeh Deri to sign on a coalition agreement, PM Netanyahu has added two additional ministries, Galil & Negev Development and Welfare & Social Services. Shas officials confirm this.
Shas officials signal that at the end of the talks, Shas will likely be in control of the Interior Ministry and Deri will serve as the minister. In addition, Deri will serve as Minister of Religious Services and another Shas MK will become deputy minister. And finally, Shas’ Yitzchak Cohen will serve as Minister of Welfare & Social Services.
Until coalition agreements are signed, this remains in the realm of reliable hearsay and nothing more.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
It’s nice of Netanyahu, and I see in this a heavenly hand to punish Bennet – not nature.
As to Deri, well, it’s still Golus, still the time of בעלי זרוע
משנה מסכת סוטה פרק ט
נִדַּלְדְּלוּ אַנְשֵׁי מַעֲשֶׂה, וְגָבְרוּ בַעֲלֵי זְרוֹעַ וּבַעֲלֵי לָשׁוֹן, וְאֵין דּוֹרֵשׁ וְאֵין מְבַקֵּשׁ… עַל מִי לָנוּ לְהִשָּׁעֵן, עַל אָבִינוּ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם
Shas, unlike Yisrael Beiteinu and Bayit Yehudi, has the credible option of supporting a socialist government. In fact, on most economic issues Shas’s views are closer to Labor than Likud – in fact on economic issues, Shas’s is to the left of any other party in Israel with the possible exception of the Communists.
Since it has an option to go elsewhere, it commands a higher price. Also Deri wants ministries with little real prestige, such as Interior. Bennett and Lieberman had their heart set on real power, ministries such as Finance, Defense, and Foreign Affairs.