Five days before the expiration of the mandate to form a government: The leaders of the Torah Judaism party – Yitzhak Goldknopf, chairman of Agudath Israel, and Moshe Gafni, chairman of Degal HaTorah – signed this evening (Tuesday) in front of Yariv Levin, head of the Likud’s negotiating team, the annex of the duties they will receive. Because Torah Judaism is in the next coalition.
On behalf of Torah Judaism, it was stated: “Since an extension had to be requested from the president, we have now signed that the issue of positions is closed, and tomorrow there will be a meeting on the fundamental issues.”
This is a letter and not an appendix to the agreement, when Torah Judaism wants to formally sign the documents only after all the fundamental issues have been agreed upon. Netanyahu convinced the leaders of Torah Judaism that they needed to present real progress to the president in order for him to grant an extension of two more weeks, and they agreed to sign in the meantime.
According to the agreement, Yitzhak Goldknopf will be appointed Minister of Construction and Housing, including the Israel Land Authority; Moshe Gafni will be the chairman of the finance committee; Uri Makleb – double deputy in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Transportation.
Meir Parosh will be appointed Minister of Jerusalem and Tradition and will be in charge of the celebration of LJ Baumer in Miron.
Yaakov Asher will chair the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee.
Israel Eichler will chair the Labor and Welfare Committee.
Jacob Tesler will be appointed Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Welfare or another ministry to be agreed with the Prime Minister.
Yitzhak Pindros, who is expected to enter the Knesset under the Norwegian law, will assume the presidency of the committee for public inquiries.
The value issues still remain open, with the parties still discussing the formula that will regulate the conscription law, and the level of comparison of ultra-Orthodox education budgets to state education.
With the end of the mandate that Netanyahu received from the president, he can ask for an extension of two more weeks to complete the job – and declare: “It’s up to me.”
President Yitzhak Herzog will approve an extension for Netanyahu, but first he will demand to present to him the progress in the coalition negotiations.
Herzog will ask to hear about the agreements that have already been signed and will be interested in why the agreements on the value issues are being delayed.
The president will also be interested in the Likud’s intention to pass legislation even before the government is sworn in – which will allow Aryeh Deri to be appointed minister.
According to political commentator Amit Segal, the question is – will Likud admit to the president that they need an extension for the enactment of the ‘Deri Law’. Likud will be required to give answers, on the one hand they are required to present the progress of the talks so far, but also to explain why the agreement has not yet been signed.
Unusually, the Likud will be required to show that there are still difficulties in the negotiations, which justifies an extension. The Likud’s dilemma is whether to put things on the table and explain the legislative steps intended to form the government, or simply explain that difficulties remain in the negotiations with the partnership.
Today Gideon Sa’ar and Marev Michaeli called on the president not to extend the mandate to form the government.
“Transferring the signatures of the parties of the Netanyahu bloc to replace the speaker of the Knesset indicates that the formation of the government is complete,” wrote Sa’ar in a tweet on Twitter. “Netanyahu’s request to the president for additional days for this purpose is eye catching. The goal: passing personal and problematic laws according to the demand of his partners before the establishment of the government. This is not why the president was given the authority in the law to extend the deadline. The president must reject Netanyahu’s request.”