Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Likud party are trying to come up with a coalition formula that will satisfy Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett without making him Foreign Minister – a position that Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Liberman, the current Foreign Minister, intends to keep for himself.
Bennett has been adamant that the Jewish Home, which receives 8 MKs, has precedence over Liberman and deserves the portfolio.
Teams from Likud and the Jewish Home are scheduled to meet Monday, and prepare the ground for the more intensive negotiations, which are to commence next week, after the Pesach holiday.
Likud's team will also meet Wednesday with Yisrael Beytenu representatives.
These two meetings, which are taking place on Chol Hamoed Pesach – a time that is usually set aside for rest and recreation – indicate the urgency of the crisis over the foreign ministry.
According to Yisrael Hayom, which is considered close to Netanyahu, the Prime Minister has held a discussion with his negotiating team and is focusing on finding a suitable alternative for Bennett, while leaving the foreign ministry for Liberman. The report in Yisrael Hayom is seen by some as spin, intended to make Bennett seem like the intransigent party in the talks.
Netanyahu is reportedly considering giving the Jewish Home the Education and Agriculture ministries, as well as the Settlement Section of the Ministry of Defense, which receives budgets for settlelemt activities throughout Israel.
The Jewish Home is reportedly also not willing to give up control of the Religions Ministry, which the Prime Minister wants to give to Shas.
Meanwhile, Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu party demands control of the Planning and Construction Section, which is currently part of the Interior Ministry, but that ministry is intended for Shas's Aryeh Deri. Kulanu and Jewish Home both want the Knesset's Finance Committee, which has been promised to UTJ.