Aryeh Deri and Bezalel Smotrich
Aryeh Deri and Bezalel SmotrichHaim Twito

The Israeli public is not thrilled with the prospects that Shas chairman Aryeh Deri will be appointed Finance Minister and Religious Zionism chairman Bezalel Smotrich will be appointed Defense Minister, a poll published by Channel 12 News on Friday found.

On the question of whether it is appropriate for Aryeh Deri, who was convicted of tax-related offenses, to serve as Minister of Finance, 71% of respondents said that it would not be appropriate and only 18% answered that it is appropriate. 11% answered they don't know.

Even among voters who are supporters of Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, almost half - 48% - think that Deri's appointment as Finance Minister would be inappropriate, compared to 34% who do.

Although the majority of the public thinks that Deri does not deserve to be the Minister of Finance, they prefer him in that position over Smotrich, the poll found. At the same time, the majority thinks that neither is suitable and another candidate would be better. When asked who is more suitable for the position of Minister of Finance, 16% replied Deri, 13% said Smotrich and 56% said "another candidate" would be more suitable.

An overwhelming majority of the public, 65%, believe that Smotrich is not suitable for the position of Minister of Defense and only 21% think he is suitable. 14% answered "I don't know".

Among Netanyahu supporters, the majority think that Smotrich is not suitable for the Defense Minister post - 44% oppose the appointment, compared to 40% who support it.

The Channel 12 News poll comes as coalition negotiations continue but appear to be stalled over disagreements on ministerial portfolios.

Smotrich has demanded to be appointed either Defense Minister or Finance Minister. The US is pressuring Netanyahu not to grant Smotrich the Defense Ministry, but Netanyahu has already offered the Finance Ministry to Shas chair MK Aryeh Deri, and Deri has accepted the offer.

Earlier on Friday, Otzma Yehudit chairman MK Itamar Ben Gvir spoke with Netanyahu, begging him to agree to Smotrich's coalition demands.

Ben Gvir said Smotrich's demand for the Defense Ministry is a legitimate demand, and will allow the full implementation of a right-wing government's policies, including the founding of new towns in Judea and Samaria, a cessation of the eviction of Jews from new settlements, the approval of thousands of housing units, and an end to illegal Arab construction in Area C of Judea and Samaria.

Ben Gvir added that the technical bloc between himself and Smotrich is still in existence, but called on all sides to "sit in a closed room with all of the parties and to find a quick solution to form a full and proper right-wing government, as soon as possible."

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)