News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) MK Yakov Margi, who heads the Shas faction in the Knesset, said Sunday that his party intends to prevent the appointments of any new Kadima and Labor ministers until "acute questions regarding Shas's presence in the coalition" are solved.

Margi said there were two main issues troubling the Sephardic party: government stipends for families with many children and the law regarding widening the authority of the rabbinical courts. In addition, he noted, Shas should receive a government position for every position given to Labor or Kadima, in order to preserve the coalition's "internal balance."

Margi said that he would also oppose giving a minister's position to the new pensioner's faction until Shas's legislative demands are met.