Bitan, who is accused of bribery and whose trial is ongoing, was appointed chairman of the committee after, at the Likud faction meeting before the inauguration, he attacked Netanyahu and told him, among other things: “Why didn’t you convene the faction until now?”. When Education Minister Yoav Kish tried to intervene, Bitan shouted at him: Who appointed you? You were not appointed to anything.”
Mai Golan, meanwhile, did not get a role that would satisfy her desire. Today she announced that she was not feeling well, and did not come to the plenary session. Her associates said that “her only expectation is that they will fulfill the commitment given to her to be appointed as a minister in the government. May proved her loyalty to the prime minister at every stage, fought with all her might to overthrow the previous government and even paid a personal price for it.”
Golan was also offered to chair the Economic Committee, but she refused the position on the grounds that Bitan had first right to the committee. This is despite the fact that there is a disconnect between her and Bitan, and he is even angry with her after she chose not to stay on a common axis with him and other Likud members.
On the day the Golan government was sworn in, it left the Knesset after realizing that the agreements it had reached with Netanyahu had not been implemented, and since then there has been no significant progress on the issue. A political source associated with her said that during the meeting, which was held before the government was sworn in, Netanyahu promised Golan that she would serve as minister of information in a rotation, and until it takes effect, she would serve as deputy minister in the prime minister’s office – but then he reversed his intention.
Golan and Almog Cohen from Otzma Yehudit were supposed to be appointed as deputy ministers in the prime minister’s office, but the current law does not allow more than two deputy ministers in the office, and the two were not appointed in the end.