If Yesh Atid remains true to its statements, the incoming cabinet will be composed of no more than 18 ministers, or alternatively, it will remain close to 30 as is the case today and Yesh Atid will become an opposition party.

One of the non negotiable issues for Lapid is the sharing the burden and reducing the size of the cabinet back to the days when it complied with the law, 18 ministers. He vowed to eliminate the concept of ministers without portfolio, and Yesh Atid number two man Rabbi Shai Piron stated if the cabinet is not knocked back to 18 ministers, the party will not join the coalition.

If this is the case, there will be about ten less ministerial portfolios to hand out to potential coalition partners. Making things worse for the Likud lineup, its 31 seats are being split with Yisrael Beitenu, so it is quite clear that a number of Likud MKs who planned on becoming ministers will be disappointed.

Based on their drop in rankings in the party primaries, Ministers Benny Begin, Yossi Peled, Dan Meridor, Mickey Eitan and Moshe Kahlon will not be serving in the new cabinet.

On the other hand, Ministers Gilad Erdan, Gilad Aar, Moshe Ya’alon, Yisrael Katz and Silvan Shalom are all but guaranteed a ministerial post due to their prominent standing.

Ministers Yuval Steinitz, Yuli Edelstein and Limor Livnat are uncertain of their fate and Danny Danon and Ze’ev Elkin remain hopeful that in this Knesset they will become ministers for the first time in their careers.

Making things increasingly complicated for the prime minister is the fact that a number of party members were promised a ministerial post, including Tzachi Hanegbi and Avi Dichter.

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(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)