Smotrich willing to forgo Defense Ministry – on one condition

T. Belman.  Smart move on Smotrich’s part.  He shows himself to conciliatory  and allows an experience person to be Min of Defence, while at the same time getting what he really wanted, namely control of COGAT.

Religious Zionism chief agrees to forgo Defense Ministry – but only if he receives responsibility for management of Judea and Samaria affairs.

Israel National News  Nov 21, 2022, 9:51 AM (GMT+2)

Bezalel SmotrichArie Leib Abrams/Flash90

MK Bezalel Smotrich, chairman of the Religious Zionism party, has informed the Likud that he is willing to compromise on his demand to be appointed Defense Minister – but only if certain conditions are met, Kan Reshet Bet reported Monday morning.

According to the report, Smotrich is willing to forgo the Defense Ministry if he receives the Finance Ministry and extensive responsibilities from the Defense Ministry related to Judea and Samaria.

Among these responsibilities are the responsibility and authority for the civil matters of Israelis in Judea and Samaria, including responsibility for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Civil Administration Unit, and responsibility for enforcement in open areas.

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Smotrich is demanding that the entire issue of settlements in Judea and Samaria be transferred to the Finance Ministry, so that even if no one is appointed Defense Minister in the end, he will still be able to set the policies for the area.

It is not yet clear what the Likud’s position on this matter is – but it is clear that the party is not happy with this demand, the report says.

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.

November 21, 2022 | 8 Comments »

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  2. One almost convicted criminal richly rewards a convicted criminal:

    Report: Deri would get a ‘super ministry’ to compensate for losing finance office
    Today, 8:27 pm 0

    To make up for the Finance Ministry going to the Religious Zionism party, the Likud party is offering Shas leader Aryeh Deri a “super ministry” that would effectively combine the Interior Ministry and Transportation Ministry into one office, the Kan broadcaster reports.

    In addition to this expanded Interior-Transportation Ministry, Deri would be made deputy prime minister. His party would also get control of the Health Ministry, Diaspora Affairs Ministry, and the Ministry for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev, and the Galilee, which controls funds to assist those farther-flung parts of the country.

    As part of coalition negotiations, Deri requested the Finance Ministry for himself, but earlier today Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu offered the job to Religious Zionism head Bezalel Smotrich, in order to get him to rescind his demand for the Defense Ministry.

    https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/report-deri-would-get-a-super-ministry-to-compensate-for-losing-finance-office/

    Smotrich and Ben Gvir are just a couple of sellouts.

  4. If Aryeh Deri receives the Interior Ministry, then bye-bye aliyah!

    I wonder if Netanyahu and Likud are aiming to stall every activity the way they distribute those ministries.

    I don’t see what Smotrich or Ben Gvir will manage to accomplish with what they’ve finally got.

    1

  5. Report: Compromise reached between Smotrich, Deri, and Netanyahu
    Religious Zionism chair reportedly drops demand for Defense Min., will receive Finance Min. instead. Deri to receive 3 ministries.

    It appears that a breakthrough has been reached in the coalition negotiation meeting between Prime Minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu and Religious Zionism party chairman MK Bezalel Smotrich Monday.

    Under the new compromise, Smotrich would wave his demands for the defense and religious affairs portfolios and would be appointed Finance Minister in the new government.

    Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri, who had been demanding the finance portfolio, would receive theInterior Ministry, Religious Affairs Ministy, and the Negev and Galilee Ministry, and a member of the Shas party receive a position in the Prime Minister’s Office

    The Otzma Yehudit party would receive the Agriculture Ministry, and MK Yitzhak Wasserlauf would be the most likely candidate to become Agriculture Minister.

    Earlier, Otzma Yehudit chairman MK Itamar Ben-Gvir stated that if he is not given the opportunity to assist Israel’s periphery communities his party will not join the incoming government and remain in the opposition.

    “We asked for the transportation or education portfolios. Unfortunately, we received a negative response, but then they offered us the periphery portfolio. My goal is tohelp the periphery. I live in Hebron and the settlements are dear to my heart, but the periphery is just as important to me,” Ben-Gvir said at the weekly Otzma Yehudit faction meeting.

    “Yesterday was a difficult day when they broke the first commitment they gave us just a week ago. Without being able to restore order to the streets and without being able to help the periphery, the Negev and the Galilee – we will not be in the government, that’s what we were voted in for, and it’s part of our soul.”

    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/363179

    humor: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=bAIWn2MhInI&feature=share

  6. TOI’s report differs from that of Arutz:

    Prime minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu reaches a compromise with Religious Zionist party leader Bezalel Smotrich in the stalled coalition talks, in which the defense portfolio will stay with Likud while Smotrich will become finance minister, Channel 12 reports.

    Smotrich had demanded the Defense Ministry, which would have given him significant control over the West Bank and over the daily lives of Palestinians. Such an appointment was fiercely opposed by the United States and was criticized domestically as well, including by right-wing figures, who noted Smotrich’s lack of security experience.

    According to Channel 12’s unsourced report, Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party will nevertheless have some control over Israel’s West Bank policies and will be able to name a subordinate minister within the Defense Ministry, similar to Minister Michael Biton, who currently has such a position under outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

    Likud MK Yoav Gallant, a former IDF general, has been named as the presumptive next defense minister in such an arrangement.

    Under the proposed compromise, which has yet to be confirmed by the parties, Smotrich will gain control of the Finance Ministry, while the other main contender for that job — Shas leader Aryeh Deri — will get the Interior Ministry, Religious Services Ministry and a position in the Prime Minister’s Office for his party, as well as the Negev and Galil Ministry, which controls funds for those farther-flung, generally disadvantaged regions of the country.

    Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, will be named public security minister, giving him control over the police, and his party will also take the Agriculture Ministry.

  7. Report: Compromise reached between Smotrich, Deri, and Netanyahu

    …Under the new compromise, Smotrich would wave his demands for the defense and religious affairs portfolios and would be appointed Finance Minister in the new government.

    Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri, who had been demanding the finance portfolio, would receive theInterior Ministry, Religious Affairs Ministy, and the Negev and Galilee Ministry, and a member of the Shas party receive a position in the Prime Minister’s Office

    The Otzma Yehudit party would receive the Agriculture Ministry, and MK Yitzhak Wasserlauf would be the most likely candidate to become Agriculture Minister….

    This is a decided retreat by Ben Gvir who was reported to have said less than an hour ago that:
    Ben-Gvir: We’ll be able to help the periphery or we won’t be part of govt.