The swearing in of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s new government will be delayed until Sunday, Netanyahu and Gantz announced on Thursday evening. The delay came due to the logjam of ministerial hopefuls in Likud. Netanyahu was supposed to announce the list of his cabinet ministers at 6pm. Likud ministers have complained about the portfolios they were offered by Netanyahu. They also complained that the head of the Likud’s negotiating team, outgoing tourism minister Yariv Levin, did not leave the party enough portfolios after coalition deals with other factions in the Knesset. Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi and Deputy Defense Minister Avi Dichter, who have not been invited to meet with Netanyahu about their next roles, announced that they would boycott the vote of confidence in the government that had been set for late Thursday night. “I guess I am not needed in the Knesset, so Shabbat shalom,” Hanegbi wrote on social media. There was supposed to be a vote for the next Knesset speaker at 10pm, followed by the confidence vote in the government. Ministers were supposed to be sworn in after 1:15am, because the last coalition deal was submitted at that time on Wednesday night and ministers could only be sworn 24 hours after the last coalition deal was submitted. Likud ministers who have complained about what they were offered include Gila Gamliel and David Amsalem. Gantz rescinded his resignation from his role as Knesset speaker.Source
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