The former chairwoman of the Labor Party, Shelly Yechimovich, expressed hope on Sunday that Shas chairman Aryeh Deri will step into the shoes of Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman.
"Amen that Aryeh Deri will be the Minister of Finance," Yechimovich wrote on her Twitter account, explaining that Deri "is so much more suitable than his outdated and destructive libertarian predecessor - Avigdor Liberman and the optional economic alternative which is identical to Liberman, Bezalel Smotrich."
Later, she added that "since I no longer live on Twitter, I will reply in advance that the history of the three personalities mentioned is well known to me, and despite all of that, I am sure that Deri is many times better than them."
Channel 12 News reported on Sunday morning that Deri told Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu that he wishes to be granted the Finance Ministry portfolio in the next government.
The report added that Deri has been hesitating between asking for the Defense and Finance Ministries, and after extensive consultations with party officials, decided to opt for Finance, seeing the position as more crucial to his party's vision.
Deri's choice will likely lead to increased friction between Netanyahu and Religious Zionism head MK Bezalel Smotrich, leader of Israel's third-largest party (after Likud and Yesh Atid). Smotrich has already made it known that he wants either the Defense or the Finance Ministry, and Netanyahu has so far been unwilling to let the Defense portfolio pass out of his party's hands.
Smotrich and Deri met on Sunday afternoon after coalition talks aimed at forming a right-wing government Netanyahu hit a snag over the weekend.
The two discussed the Finance Ministry portfolio as well as the Religious Affairs portfolio, which both the Shas and Religious Zionist Party are seeking to receive.