Israeli prime minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled to present his new government on Tuesday at 5 pm local time in what is expected to be the largest government in the country’s history by including 30 ministers and six deputy ministers, Israeli newspapers reported.
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has 120 seats.
The announcement of the government comes after weeks of negotiation following the results of the general election on February 10. Due to the low threshold that a party needs to pass in order be elected to the parliament, seats are divided among political parties ranging from the Jewish ultra-Orthodox Shas to Arab nationalist parties such as Hadash.
The fragmentation of the parliament usually results in no party winning enough seats to form a government of its own, so negotiators are needed to bring aboard partners, and one way to do this is to offer various ministerial positions in line with a certain party’s agenda.
Despite the increased number of ministers, Israeli newspapers are reporting that Netanyahu is still struggling to find a position for Likud party rival and former foreign minister Silvan Shalom. Some papers even speculate that Shalom will be handed the foreign minster position instead of Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the right-wing party Yisrael Beiteinu.
Yisrael Beiteinu holds 15 seats and is considered a key member of the coalition.