Kan 11 News reported on Friday that Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz is seeking to appoint a professional as Health Minister, with two of the names under consideration being Professor Yitzhak Kreis, director of the Sheba Medical Center, and Professor Ronni Gamzu, CEO of the Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv.
Such an appointment, if implemented, will be made in coordination with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the report said. However, no agreement has yet been reached between Gantz and Netanyahu on appointing someone from outside the right-wing bloc as Health Minister.
Blue and White is reportedly ready to "pay" for the Health Ministry by relinquishing some of the smaller ministries it was to receive as part of the coalition agreement, but not the Foreign Ministry, which the Likud has demanded in exchange for the Ministry of Health.
On Thursday, Kan 11 News reported that Netanyahu has expressed willingness to appoint Naftali Bennett as Minister of Health, but the portfolio has not yet been officially offered to Yamina, and it is doubtful that Bennett is even interested in it.
A poll conducted by the Direct Polls Institute on Thursday found that a majority of 44.2% of the public would prefer to see a public health professional assume the post of Health Minister.
Of the politicians named as candidates, Bennett received the most support, with 35.7% of respondents saying they would prefer to see him as Health Minister.
Bennett was far ahead of his nearest competition, MK Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue and White), who received 6.4%.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)