Gaza City - MENA
An agreement on the Israeli coalition government is expected to be presented to the Knesset by Monday, The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported Sunday. According to the report, a new government is expected to be formed by Tuesday, political sources said. The report comes after Likud-Beytenu, Bayit Yehudi and Yesh Atid party representatives met for a marathon of talks late Saturday night in an attempt to reach a coalition agreement. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid is warming up to the idea of becoming finance minister, party sources said on Saturday, a week before Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahus deadline to form a government. Lapid and Netanyahu met on Friday for talks their spokeswomen called "positive, with much progress made." Likud Beytenus and Bayit Yehudis negotiating teams also met on Saturday night. The coalition most likely will be composed of 23-24 ministers, with 12 from Likud Beytenu, five or six from Yesh Atid, four from Bayit Yehudi, two from Hatnua and one from Kadima.