Gov’t to have Druze minister due to dispute
Eli Avidar refuses cabinet post
The new government that was set to be sworn in on Sunday night will have a Druze minister, Hamed Amer, because of a rare fight inside Yisrael Beytenu.
Amer will be a second minister in the Finance Ministry under party chairman Avigdor Liberman, a post rejected over the weekend by MK Eli Avidar.
Liberman appointed MK Oded Forer to the combined position of agriculture minister and Negev and Galilee development minister, which Avidar wanted.
The chairmanship of the powerful Knesset Finance Committee was given to Amer.
But Avidar refused to serve under Finance Minister Liberman and told him he would rather remain a regular MK.
Liberman decided to promote Amer to the cabinet and give the committee chairmanship to MK Alex Kushnir.
Amer will be one of two non-Jews in the cabinet, along
with Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej of Meretz.
There will also be a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office from the Ra’am (United Arab List) Party.
Avidar will vote for the government. But he is threatening to break off from Yisrael Beytenu and serve as an independent MK, which would be the ninth faction in the coalition.