Coalition partners are lining up
The party representatives arrived one after another at the President's Residence on Sunday. All of them could be heard saying that haste makes waste, and hoping that if the coalition talks drag on they will gain more around the cabinet table. That is natural and appropriate.
But the math is not on their side. Likud won overwhelmingly, and this made any foot-dragging unnecessary.
Israel is in the midst of a crisis with U.S. President Barack Obama. It might also face major upheavals at the United Nations. With no official budget for 2015, Israel's bureaucracy has had to use the figures set by the 2014 Budget Law. The new budget law might have to apply to both 2015 and 2016. The budget woes are a prescription for socio-economic stagnation.
The coalition's makeup is pretty much a done deal. So is the would-be cabinet. Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister, Moshe Ya'alon as defense minister, Moshe Kahlon as finance minister and Yakov Litzman as deputy health minister. Many people are lining up for various portfolios, but the exact titles are less important. What will Yisrael Katz's position be in the next government? Will he continue as transportation minister or also sit in the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet, and if so, will he be a vote-wielding member or just an observer in that forum? Will Gilad Erdan be communications minister or justice minister? Yoav Galant might be a great public security minister, but he might do surprisingly well as social affairs and social services minister as well. Ayelet Shaked will generate interest regardless of the portfolio she is assigned because of her record as a proactive legislator. The public is not going to lose sleep over all these questions. When all is said and done, Israelis are going to evaluate the ministers based on their performances, not on their portfolios. That said, the public would like to do away with the transition period and have the new government get to work.
The coalition talks are going to boil down to two over-arching issues. The first: the coalition's basic guidelines, or more specifically, the promises it will make on housing and whether state-owned land will go on sale at affordable prices. These guidelines will also have to settle on the government's diplomatic posture. Namely, how to reconcile its right-wing agenda with the intensifying international pressure.
The second issue: Shas leader Aryeh Deri and his role in the government. His attempt to land the Interior Ministry will undoubtedly result in an outcry among a growing number of people who believe his criminal past at the helm of that office -- for which he served jail time -- disqualifies him. The outcome of this battle will undoubtably be a source of great interest. But despite this being a worthy cause, his detractors will probably be unsuccessful. His party is going to stand behind him.
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