Aryeh Deri and Benjamin Netanyahu
Aryeh Deri and Benjamin NetanyahuYonatan Sindel/Flash90

Likud chief MK Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to be tapped to form the next government, has offered Shas chief Aryeh Deri his choice of portfolios.

According to News 12, Deri received a message from Netanyahu to "choose whatever portfolio you want - demand the Finance Ministry."

Last month, Religious Zionism chair MK Bezalel Smotrich said, "If we end up with 15 or 16 mandates, there will surely be a right-wing government... We will also have the legitimacy to receive significant portfolios. Defense, finance, transportation, and justice are important portfolios. You know what? Our party will receive three, four, or five ministries, and together we will create changes."

Meanwhile, it is expected that there will be conflict over which party receives the Religious Affairs Ministry.

The right-wing bloc, expected to form the next coalition, is comprised of the Likud and five religious parties: Ashkenazic-haredi United Torah Judaism, Sephardic-haredi Shas, Religious Zionism, the Religious Zionist Otzma Yehudit party, and Noam, a smaller Religious Zionist party.

Both Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit are likely to demand the Religious Affairs Ministry, which has for years been controlled by Shas, other than during the previous government, when it was given to MK Matan Kahana of National Unity.

It is estimated that if Shas receives the Religious Affairs Ministry, the deputy minister will be a Religious Zionist, possibly Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, a member of Otzma Yehudit and the son of Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu.

In August 2023, elections for the positions of chief rabbi will be held; it is believed that the position of Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi will be filled by a Religious Zionist.