Netanyahu's bid to form new Israeli government reaches critical point

Over a month after the March 17 elections took place, incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's race to form a new government has entered its final stretch.

Netanyahu, who was assigned to form a coalition government last month by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin after his party garnered 30 out of 120 seats in the Knesset (parliament), had been deliberating in the past several weeks with politicians from the Israeli right-wing, but has yet to come up with signed papers.

On April 20, Netanyahu asked Rivlin for a two-week extension, a routine procedure. He has up until May 6 to present the members of the 34th government, the fourth under his rule, or the president could assign another parliament member with the task of forming the government.

However, it appears that Netanyahu is making ground in forming a coalition based on 67 members from his Likud party, the Jewish Home party, Israel Beytenu party, the center Kulanu party and the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Judaism Torah parties.

This is how it appears the next government would look like.

Four ministers are expected to retain their positions from the previous government: Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud), Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Israel Beytenu), Transportation Minister Israel Katz (Likud) and Minister of Immigrant Absorption Sofa Landver (Israel Beytenu.)

Moshe Kahlon from the Kulanu party will be the Finance Minister. Prior to the elections and amid an intense campaign, Netanyahu publicly promised Kahlon the coveted position in which the latter could pursuit his plans for reforms to battle the housing crisis and soaring costs of living in Israel. Kahlon is the first person Netanyahu struck an understanding with in the negotiations.

Kahlon, who was a member of the Likud party until recently, established the party prior to the March 17 elections, charging he would fight to improve the social-economic situation in Israel. His party received 10 seats in the parliament.

The former Likud member had already started meeting with treasury officials in order to prepare crafting the upcoming two-year budget, although he did not sign an official paper with Netanyahu, the Globes economic daily reported.

He had also managed to fit in a demand to transfer the powerful planning committee from the Interior Ministry to the Housing Ministry, which will be manned by his party member Yoav Galant.

Jewish Home officials were said to be frustrated by the advancement of the talks with them, according to various media outlets.

The nationalist party, which received only eight seats in the elections, claims it lost much of its power due to an intense election campaign by Netanyahu to vote for the Likud party which attracted most of their voters.

The party is expected to get a double-digit number of parliament members. In the 2013 elections, the party received 12 seats in the parliament.

Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett, who was the first politician Netanyahu called after his election victory (calling him his "natural ally," demanded to retain either the Defense or the Foreign Ministry.

However, the Channel 2 news reported that Bennett would accept the Education Ministry, which was not the most popular portfolio during the negotiations. It also reported that rather than the education portfolio, the Jewish Home party would also receive the culture and sports portfolio and the agricultural portfolio.

The ultra-orthodox Shas party is expected to receive the Interior Ministry and the orthodox party United Judaism Torah will receive the Health Ministry. Shas is fighting the Jewish Home party over the Religious Affairs Ministry.

Throughout the negotiations, there have also been reports and leaks of a possibility that Netanyahu would rather deny some of the right-wing parties a place in his upcoming government in favor of the left-wing Labor party, which received 24 seats in the parliament, and form a national unity government.

The reports have been denied by both Likud officials and Labor officials, including Labor leader Isaac Herzog, who denied meeting Netanyahu in the past weeks or that he has any intentions to sit in Netanyahu's government.