PM meets rebels in last-minute scramble for ministerial posts

Netanyahu seeking to placate Dichter, Hanegbi, Sa’ar ahead of swearing in

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to meet with Likud rebels Saturday night after they vowed to boycott the vote of confidence in the government since they had not been chosen for ministerial positions during the formation of the new cabinet.

MKs Avi Dichter, Tzachi Hanegbi and Gideon Sa’ar were invited by Netanyahu to discuss the various ministerial positions still open to them Saturday night, as the prime minister sought to avoid creating dissent among the senior ranks of his party. The rebellion caused a delay of the swearing in of the government on Thursday.

The large number of ministerial positions handed out to Blue and White and Labor has meant that Netanyahu has been left with too few portfolios to pay back his loyalists and placate senior Likud MKs.

On Friday therefore, MK Dudi Amsallem, a Netanyahu hyper-loyalist and previous communications minister, was named as “Minister for Liaising with the Knesset,” a role which in the past was simply part of an existing minister’s duties.

On Saturday night, Netanyahu announced that former economy minister Eli Cohen would become intelligence minister, while other appointments on Friday included MK Ofir Akunis as Minister for Regional Cooperation, and MK Yisrael Katz as Finance Minister.

One of the last remaining senior portfolios left is education minister, and MKs Nir

Barkat and Yoav Gallant are thought to be the two candidates for this position.

MK Tzipi Hotovely is expected to be appointed as minister of the brand new Settlements Ministry.

MK Ze’ev Elkin is expected to remain in the Environmental Protection Ministry, while current energy minister Yuval Steinitz wishes to remain in his position.

Late Thursday night, outgoing education minister Rafi Peretz who is the sole representative of the Bayit Yehudi party finally entered the government and deserted his right-wing, religious allies in the Yamina party.

Peretz was appointed Jerusalem

Affairs, Heritage and National Projects Minister, and Netanyahu lauded his entry into the government, saying “religious-Zionism has entered the government,” a dig at Yamina which has accused the prime minister of deliberately excluding it from the coalition.

As part of the coalition agreement between Likud and the Bayit Yehudi party, Peretz will continue to serve as an observer in the security cabinet, and as a full member in the ministerial committee for legislation.

The agreement also included a commitment by the

Likud that the “existing custom” in which the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox, Sephardi ultra-Orthodox and religious-Zionist parties are each able to appoint a third of new rabbinical court judges would be preserved.

This allocation has traditionally been a third of rabbinical judge appointments each to United Torah Judaism, Shas and the religious-Zionist parties, although the ultra-Orthodox parties have nevertheless interfered with and vetoed the candidates of their religious-Zionist counterparts in the past.

Peretz, however, does not appear to have secured a position on the appointments committee for rabbinical court judges. •

threat of EU sanctions on Israel if it goes forward with annexation, Ortagus signaled that the US would defend Israel.

“We continue to be a steadfast ally of the State of Israel,” she said. “We made a point of standing up for Israel at the UN... We’ve done all we can to reverse the last administration not standing up for Israel... Israel has a friend an ally in the US.”

In Brussels on Friday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell spoke with reporters after the monthly meeting of foreign ministers that was held via video conference. Opposition to Israel’s pending annexation steps was a large part of the discussion, but no common conclusions were reached.

The European Union opposes pending Israeli plans to annex portions of the West Bank and would work to halt such effort, Borrell explained.

“Unilateral action should be avoided and international law should be upheld,” he said.

The EU is under pressure from some of its member states, including France, Belgium and Ireland, to take concrete action such as threatening sanctions against Israel should it apply sovereignty to the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

But in order to take stiff action, such as sanctions, the EU would need the support of all of its 27 member states. Israel has some staunch allies in the EU, such as Hungary and the Czech Republic, which would be expected to block any sanction efforts.

At a press event earlier this week, Borrell noted that members states were divided on the issue of sanctions and that Friday’s meeting would likely not go any further than an airing of opinions.

After the meeting, Borrell told reporters that “the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a priority and is one of the strategic interests of the EU.”

He reaffirmed the EU’s support for a negotiated two-state solution. The EU has long held that such a solution should be at the pre-1967 lines, unless modified through an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.

It’s a position that is in marked contrast to the Trump administration’s plan for a demilitarized Palestinian state on 70% of the West Bank.

The EU will “work to discourage any possible initiative toward annexation,” Borrell said. He spoke of a diplomatic initiative against the plan in which the EU and individual member states would reach out to the US, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and neighboring Arab states using all possible channels.

The EU is exploring actions that a geopolitical power could take to halt annexation, Borrell said.

“We will think of our geopolitical capacities in order to [have influence] on this process, but it doesn’t mean we will do it tomorrow,” he added.

He emphasized that no action would be taken immediately. Given the absence of a common EU position, it is likely that EU states which oppose annexation will explore making use of already existing and agreed upon diplomatic tools to try and block Israeli sovereignty.

Borrell was careful to stress the positive and strong ties between Israel and the EU and emphasized the importance of maintaining those ties.

He noted the formation of a new Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which is slated to be sworn in on Sunday. “We look forward to working comprehensively and constructively with the new government once it’s in office,” Borrell said.

Earlier this month, ambassadors from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and the EU

met with Israel’s Foreign Ministry to express their opposition to annexation.

The United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU. It has been very vocal in its opposition to annexation.

The PA and Jordan are in the midst of a diplomatic campaign to urge the EU and or individual European member states to take action to halt annexation.

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report. •

• Vice Prime Minister and

Defense Minister Benny Gantz: Blue and White head set to become prime minister in November 2021 in coalition deal, Former IDF chief of staff

• Foreign Minister Gabi

Ashkenazi: Former IDF chief of staff whose entry into politics facilitated the formation of Blue and White

• Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn: Head of Blue and White faction in the Knesset and former chairman of the Histadrut Labor Federation

• Culture and Sports Minister Chili Tropper: Former Gantz adviser and Labor Knesset candidate who has held municipal posts in Yeruham and Bat Yam and ran a school in Ramle

• Immigrant Absorption

Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata: Israel’s first Ethiopian-born minister made aliya with her family at age three, attorney and former journalist

• Science and Technology

Minister Izhar Shay: Successful hi-tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist who launched and sold multiple start-ups with hefty exits

• Agriculture Minister Alon

Shuster: Farmer from Kibbutz Mefalsim on the Gaza border who served as mayor of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council

• Social Equality Minister Meirav Cohen: Activist known for helping the elderly, former member of the Jerusalem city council, was a Knesset candidate with Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua party

• Minister in the Defense

Ministry Michael Biton: Former Yeruham mayor, director of the United Israel Appeal (Canada) and the Jewish Agency’s Beersheba branch

• Tourism Minister Assaf

Zamir: Lawyer and former deputy mayor of Tel Aviv, who challenged incumbent Ron Huldai unsuccessfully in 2018

• Strategic Affairs Minister

Orit Farkash Hakohen: Lawyer and regulator who headed the Israel Electric Corporation and earned a degree from Harvard University

• Diaspora Affairs Minister

Omer Yankelevich: Israel’s first haredi (ultra-Orthodox) minister, who studied at Cambridge

• Minister of Minorities:

Not appointed yet

• Knesset House Committee

head Eitan Ginzburg: Former mayor of Ra’anana who headed the Knesset committee that legislated the bills needed to form the government

• Knesset Interior and Environment

Committee head Miki Haimovich: Environmental activist and former news anchor-woman

• Knesset Education Committee head Ram Shefa: Former chairman of the National Union of Israeli Students

Shas

• Interior Minister and Negev and Galilee Development Minister Arye Deri: Shas leader, Israel’s most veteran minister, first sworn in to the cabinet in December 1988

• Religious Services Minister Ya’acov Avitan: Rabbi and deputy mayor of Ashkelon

United Torah Judaism

• Construction and Housing Minister Ya’acov Litzman: UTJ leader, long-time health minister, representative of Gerrer hassidic sect

Labor

• Economy Minister Amir Peretz: Former defense minister, environment minister and Histadrut Labor Federation chairman

• Welfare and Social Services Minister Itzik Shmuli: Former National Union of Israeli Students chairman who led socioeconomic protests in 2011

Derech Eretz

• Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel: Former journalist and Netanyahu spokesman, co-authored Israel vs. Iran: The Shadow War with Jerusalem Post editor Yaakov Katz

• Knesset Foreign Affairs

and Defense Committee chairman Tzvi Hauser: Former cabinet secretary of Netanyahu

Gesher

• Community Strengthening and Advancement Minister Orly Levy-Abecassis: Daughter of former foreign minister David Levy

Bayit Yehudi

• Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Rafi Peretz: Former Air Force pilot, education

minister, and IDF chief rabbi •