By Aryeh Savir/TPS • 14 May, 2020
Israel’s 35th government, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will be sworn in late Thursday night, as 18 months of political turmoil seemingly come to an end.
The government of 36 ministers, the largest in Israel’s history, will be led by Netanyahu for the coming 18 months, and he will then rotate with Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz, with whom he established a unity government.
The Knesset’s Regulatory Committee announced that the plenum session will begin at 18:00 with Netanyahu’s presentation. He will discuss the government’s basic guidelines, the composition of the government, and who will serve in which ministerial position.
Former IDF chief of staff MK Gabi Ashkenazi will serve as foreign minister, Israel Katz will be announced the finance minister, Avi Nissenkorn will be the justice minister and Yuli Edelstein will be the health minister.
Amir Peretz will be the minister of economy and Itzik Shmuli will serve as the welfare minister. Yoaz Hendel will be appointed communications minister.
Yariv Levin will be voted in as the new Knesset Speaker.
Alternate Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Benny Gantz will speak next, and he will be followed by the opposition head.
The mistrust between the main coalition partners, Likud and Blue and White is significant, and several pundits have speculated that Israel may face early elections again.