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Israeli parliament approves bill to increase cabinet positions

Xinhua, May 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Israeli Knesset (parliament) Wednesday voted in favor of a bill that will empower Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to enlarge the number of cabinet positions in the new coalition government.

In 2013, Netanyahu signed a coalition deal with the center-left Yesh Atid party limiting the number of ministers to 18.

However, as the prime minister has yielded a number of ministerial posts to his coalition partners to court their support, he decided to expand the cabinet so as to please members of his own Likud party.

It was tough for Netanyahu to have secured his coalition government only hours before the deadline even though it has a one-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament.

It is expected that the new government is set to be inaugurated either Thursday or early on next week.

Netanyahu is expected to summon members of his Likud party to reveal their positions in the upcoming government. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and Transportation Minister Israel Katz are expected to remain in their positions.

The center-left Yesh Atid party, which insisted on the 18-cabinet-member limit, filed an appeal to the Supreme Court on Sunday, charging against authorization of the proposal by the outgoing government. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal.

The Zionist Union submitted a proposal to disperse the Knesset Monday evening, charging that the upcoming government "leans on a casual and technical majority of 61 coalition members," criticizing the coalition agreements which "embody significant harm to the value of the political regime," the NRG website quoted the motion as saying.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin also criticized the move to increase the government in an exclusive interview with the Hebrew Walla news website.

He called the move "not good" as it "shakes the public's trust."

"Politicians should stand by the rules they make themselves," Rivlin said. "Breaking something constitutional shouldn't be supported nor believed in by the public. It would be best if once and for all politicians would determine the items that obligate them constitutionally and stick by them without swerving," he added. Endit