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Israeli PM to surrender Justice Ministry to nationalist party as deadline looms

Xinhua, May 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

Incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to give the Jewish Home party the Justice Ministry in order to secure a coalition as the deadline to present his new government is looming, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

The deadline for Netanyahu to present his new government expires at midnight, after 42 days of negotiations with political parties. His Likud party managed to ink coalition deals with several parties, totaling at 53 members for the coalition, up until now.

The Jewish Home party received eight seats in the March 17 elections and if it agrees to join the government, it will grant Netanyahu a 61-member coalition.

In order to form a new government, Netanyahu must secure a coalition of more than 60 members, so it would have a majority in the 120-seat parliament.

After finalizing deals with the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties and center Kulanu party, Netanyahu must now finalize a deal with the nationalist Jewish Home party.

Israeli media reported that amid overnight negotiations, Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett demanded to receive the Justice Ministry for his party in order to enter Netanyahu's coalition.

An unnamed Likud official told the Ha'aretz daily on Wednesday that his party is leaning towards accepting the Jewish Home's claim, and called Bennett's move "blackmail."

"Bennett blackmailed us, and in this case it would pay off," the official said, yet added that Bennett and his party "will pay a heavy price" in the future for this conduct.

It is not clear whether the justice minister's position would go to Bennett himself, who was said to be a candidate for the education minister's role, or to his party member Ayelet Shaked.

The Ynet news website reported that along with the Justice Ministry, the Jewish Home demands to have another representative at the security cabinet, a forum of ministers making the decisions at times of security crises.

There was also speculation among pundits in Israeli media that Bennett may settle in the end for another top ministry, like the Foreign Ministry, instead of outgoing minister Avigdor Lieberman who announced on Monday he would not join Netanyahu's government.

A Likud source told the Ynet news website that Netanyahu does not want to hand over the portfolio, as the Jewish Home vowed to wage a battle against the Supreme Court whereas Netanyahu aims to avoid this confrontation.

If Netanyahu will secure a deal with the Jewish Home, the upcoming government would be one of the narrowest governments in the history of Israel, with only a slight majority on the opposition in the parliament.

Once Netanyahu announces he had managed to form a government, there would be a week for it to be inaugurated.

In the less likely scenario in which Netanyahu fails to secure such a deal, President Reuven Rivlin will then have to hand the task of forming the government to the next possible candidate -- Labor party leader Yitzhak Herzog whose party got 24 seats in the elections. Endit