Netanyahu seeks to hike number of ministers in new government

Israel's outgoing cabinet on Sunday approved legal changes that will allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to boost the number of ministers in his new government.

In its last meeting before Netanyahu's new government is to be sworn in by Wednesday, the cabinet voted to push back the implementation of a law limiting the number of ministers to 18.

The amendment, which must now be put to a vote in parliament, aims to allow Netanyahu to have a broader cabinet of 20 ministers in order to give portfolios to senior members of his ruling rightwing Likud party, officials said.

"The government has decided to delay implementation of a law limiting the number of ministers to 18 and the number of deputy ministers to four, until the next parliament," an official in Netanyahu's office told AFP.

The Knesset is expected to vote on the amendment on Monday in a bid to have it passed before Wednesday, the last day Netanyahu can legally swear in his new government.
It needs an absolute majority to pass, in what will be the first test of strength for Netanyahu's coalition, which has a razor-thin majority of 61 in the 120-seat parliament.

Commentators said the goal was to head off criticism within Likud, which won 30 seats, after Netanyahu was forced to make concessions to his four coalition partners: the centre-right Kulanu (10 seats), the far-right Jewish Home (eight) and the two ultra-Orthodox parties Shas (seven) and United Torah Judaism (six).

- 'Jobs for the boys' -

In order to secure their support, he offered them more portfolios than expected, leaving little for his own party members.

The move to amend the law angered former finance minister Yair Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, who was instrumental in having it passed and has vowed to approach the High Court to block the change.

"They are not expanding the government to 20 ministers as they say but much more than that. They are taking money that is destined for welfare, health, education and security and wasting it on political arrangements and jobs for the boys," he said in a statement.
"We will fight this in the Knesset, we will fight it at the High Court, we will fight it in the street and we will fight it at every step because it is a violation of the democratic principle that the government works for its citizens," he pledged.

Yesh Atid had said it would petition the high court against the proposed legislation on Monday morning.

Netanyahu has reportedly asked the Knesset speaker to speed up the passage of the bill and allow for all three readings to take place on Monday.

The law capping the number of ministers was approved last year in an attempt to reduce public spending.

When Netanyahu began his second term in office in 2009, he presided over a 30-member government, the largest in Israel's history.

He reduced the number to 22 in the government he formed in 2013.