Headlines
Netanyahu begins talks to form new Israeli government
Jerusalem, March 26
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday began negotiations for the formation of
the next government, a process that will continue at best until the
second half of April.
Negotiations kicked off with delegates of
Netanyahu's Likud Party, which won the March 17 elections with 30 seats,
to be followed by a series of meetings in parliament with parties such
as the ultra-orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism, Efe news agency
reported.
Talks are also being held with nationalist parties
Israel Beitenu and Jewish Home, who are competing for defence and
foreign portfolios.
Netanyahu, who is forming his third
consecutive government with a decidedly right-wing coalition, prefers to
leave these positions to Likud, although it is possible that Avigdor
Lieberman, leader of Israel Beitenu, will stay on as foreign minister, a
post he has held since 2013, reported the Yediot Aharonot newspaper on
Thursday.
The prime minister will perhaps have more trouble with
the centralist Kulanu party, whose leader, Moshe Kahlon, has already
been promised the finance portfolio, through which he hopes to apply a
series of social reforms to curb the housing crisis and high cost of
living.
The same party, however, would also require two
non-ministerial positions vital to implement such reforms, the
presidency of the Parliamentary Finance Committee and the Interior
Ministry Planning Administration, which Netanyahu has already promised
to the ultra-Orthodox parties.
In protest, Kahlon ordered his team not to attend the negotiations with the Likud on Thursday.
Netanyahu received the mandate on Wednesday to form the government from Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.
Israeli
law provides for a period of 28 days to form a government after the
prime minister receives the mandate, but he may request an extension of
14 days if needed.