Following the announcement that the Otzma Yehudit party, headed by MK Itamar Ben-Gvir, has reached an agreement to form part of the government headed by Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, it appears that the Shas party, headed by Aryeh Deri, will also sign a coalition agreement, possibly as early as Sunday.

According to a report on Kan Reshet Bet, the agreement includes the provision that Deri will be appointed Deputy Prime Minister and will also control the Interior and Health Ministries.

Shas will be granted a further three ministries to be held by other party members: Religious Affairs and two other, more minor ministries. It has yet to become clear whether the party will also receive the Welfare Ministry and a newly-created Ministry of the Periphery (divested of Negev and Galilee Affairs, which is going to Otzma Yehudit).

With regard to the Noam party, its head, MK Avi Maoz is to be appointed Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.

Meanwhile, the Religious Zionism party headed by MK Bezalel Smotrich has yet to resume negotiations with the Likud party, following a series of disagreements last week. The two parties' negotiating teams have reportedly not met since last Tuesday. A senior party source told Kan News that one bone of contention is the issue of whether Ben-Gvir will have authority over the young settlements - Religious Zionism is not willing to see the Otzma Yehudit head granted full authority in this area, as appears to be the case in the agreement now concluded between Ben-Gvir and the Likud party.

The source explained that according to that agreement, Otzma Yehudit's ability to regulate the legal status of the young settlements and to implement key changes there will be subject to the approval of a ministerial committee headed by Netanyahu, meaning that, they claim, Netanyahu will be able to and will indeed be likely to block any move to normalize their status. Religious Zionism, on the other hand, is demanding full control over the process toward normalizing the young settlements, without any interference from the Prime Minister.

Responding to the report, Ben-Gvir wrote, "I know that Bezalel [Smotrich, Religious Zionism party head] does not begrudge me this. I don't believe that such words came from him."