A few days before the deadline for Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu to form a government, the Likud and Shas on Wednesday night signed an agreement on Shas’ roles in the new government.
According to the agreement that was reached, during the first half of the term of the government, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri will serve as Interior Minister and Health Minister, and in the second half of the government's term, he will serve as Minister of Finance.
In addition, Shas will receive the Ministry of Religious Services and the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security. Two additional ministers on behalf of Shas will serve as minister in the Ministry of Education and minister in the Ministry of the Interior.
Deri will serve as Deputy Prime Minister throughout the term of the government.
Before the signing of the full coalition agreement, the two parties will agree on the additional powers related to the ministries under the responsibility of Shas.
Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu said, "I thank my partner Rabbi Aryeh Deri for forging the agreements. Tonight we completed another step on the way to establishing a right-wing government that will act for the benefit and well-being of all the citizens of the State of Israel."
Shas chairman Deri said, "I thank my partner, Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, and the negotiating teams for reaching an agreement on the positions. This is the first step on the way to a comprehensive coalition agreement and in the future, we will form a right-wing government."
"The Shas movement, as the social party in the Knesset, kept its promises from the elections and will serve the public in the most social ministries, among others the ministries of the Interior and the Periphery, Health and Welfare in order to realize the social policy of the Shas movement for the citizens of Israel. Today the Shas negotiation team continued the discussions with the Likud's negotiating team on ideological and value issues related to education, Jewish identity, strengthening tradition and observing Shabbat in the public sphere."
Meanwhile, Netanyahu is still facing difficulties in his negotiations with the United Torah Judaism party.
Kan News reported on Wednesday evening that a conversation between Netanyahu and MK Moshe Gafni devolved into shouting. During the conversation, the Likud chairman slammed Gafni, saying: "Because of you, we haven't formed a government."
Likud officials have demanded that UTJ sign an agreement on the division of positions in order to present the president with progress in the negotiations.
Gafni told Netanyahu, "I will not sign any agreement until an agreement is reached on the fundamental issues."
UTJ and the Likud still have a dispute over the Draft Law, which is one of the most important issues for UTJ.
Gafni requested that the demands regarding the law not be raised in detail in the coalition agreement, in order not to put pressure on the Likud, similar to how the demands Noam chairman Avi Maoz had regarding the education authorities were handled. On the other hand, UTJ chairman MK Yitzhak Goldknopf wants the outline of the law and the mechanism that exempts yeshiva students from conscription to be detailed in full.