Netanyahu, and the Jewish Home party strike coalition deal just before deadline By GIL HOFFMAN 05/06/2015, Jerusalem Post Prime Minister Be...
Netanyahu, and the Jewish Home party strike coalition deal just before deadline By GIL HOFFMAN 05/06/2015, Jerusalem Post Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday night that he had succeeded in forming a government with an hour and a half left before the midnight deadline to build a coalition. Netanyahu reached an agreement with Jewish Home that will give the party the Education and Diaspora Affairs portfolios for its leader Naftali Bennett. MK Uri Ariel will be agriculture minister and MK Ayelet Shaked justice minister. Bennett succeeded in pressuring Netanyahu to give Shaked the Justice Ministry, because a coalition could not be formed without Jewish Home’s eight Knesset seats. She was originally going to be given the Culture and Sports Ministry. The Likud tried unsuccessfully to prevent Shaked from entering the security cabinet despite the justice minister automatically being in that influential body by law. The Likud also did not succeed in preventing Shaked from heading the powerful Ministerial Committee on Legislation. “It is not a government for the Right or the Left but for all of the people of Israel,” Bennett said. “I had a good conversation with the prime minister and told him I would be happy to enter a nationalist government under his leadership. I told him we will stand behind him and we will work with all our strength help the government and the country succeed.” Bennett said he thinks the government can complete its tenure, which is set to end in November 2019. The new government is expected to be sworn in on Monday. Netanyahu said no one should be surprised the process of forming a government succeeded. The prime minister reiterated his desire to expand the coalition beyond its current 61 MKs. “We will build a government that is strong and stable for the people of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “We have work to do.” Rivlin told Netanyahu he received his letter formally announcing that he had formed a government and wished him well in the final stages of the process, which will be completed next week. Earlier on Wednesday, Ariel tried to pressure Bennett to give the Justice portfolio to him instead of Shaked. His Tekuma faction inside Jewish Home has two MKs, which is enough to bring down the government in a coalition of 61 lawmakers. The Likud denied a report on Channel 2 Wednesday night that Netanyahu had offered the Foreign Affairs portfolio to Zionist Union chairman Isaac Herzog but a deal was not reached because the prime minister insisted that MK Tzipi Livni be left out of the coalition. “Neither the prime minister nor any of his associates offered or guaranteed Herzog anything,” a Likud spokesman said. Zionist Union chairman Herzog released a statement calling the new government "the weakest, narrowest, and most prone to extortion coalition in the history of Israel." He said giving the Justice Ministry to Shaked proved Netanyahu cared more about his political survival than the good of the Israeli people. Zionist Union MK Yoel Hasson blasted the new government, saying that it would threaten “the legal establishment, democracy and the weakest sectors of society. He expressed hope that the new government would be overthrown and replaced by a government led by his party in the current Knesset without needing an election. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- A few years ago, the 39 year old politician was just a kind a cult-figure (who founded a social-media group similar to Nashi in Russia). But after leading legislative proposals in the last Knesset and then winning the primaries for Jewish Home, it became clear this year that she be at least a cabinet minister. However her ascent to become Minister of Justice was only possible due to the last minute departure of the NDI party (which led Lieberman to leave the government in protest due to the concessions made to the Haredi parties). She is now the highest ranking woman in Israeli politics (although Miri Regev and Tzipi Hotovely will also be in the cabinet). Shaked will probably become Prime Minister in about ten years (ahead of Naftali Bennett), due to her strange combination of being a secular, feminist politician, who talks about elevating women and has experience of the business world, while at the same time managing to be more right-wing than the Likud. (However, to become Prime Minister she would likely have to change to the Likud party, or there would have to be some kind of merger of parties between the Likud and main faction of Jewish Home party) #financial_support_div{ display:none; position: absolute; width:300px; height:180px; margin-left: -150px; margin-top: -70px; /*- half of width and height */ top:50%; left:50%; padding: 5px; opacity:0.9; filter:alpha(opacity=90); z-index:1000; background-color:#000; color: white; } .close_box{ background: gray; color:#fff; padding:1px 3px; display:inline; position:absolute; right:1px; margin-right: -13px; margin-top: -13px; border-radius:3px; cursor:pointer; border: 1px #000 solid; } $(document).on("click",".close_box",function(){ $(this).parent().fadeTo(300,0,function(){ $(this).remove(); }); }); Loading the player ... Less
