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Anger Among Likud Leaders Over Netanyahu's Ministerial Concessions

Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu (dpa)
Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu (dpa)
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Anger Among Likud Leaders Over Netanyahu's Ministerial Concessions

Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu (dpa)
Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu (dpa)

Likud party leaders expressed anger over an expected lineup of a new cabinet led by Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu after realizing that major ministerial portfolios could not be allocated to their party members.

Israeli media said that the party's leadership was infuriated after reports that Shas party leader Aryeh Deri could be named finance minister, and head of the Religious Zionism party Bezalel Smotrich as defense minister, and leader of the Jewish Power party Itamar Ben-Gvir as the internal security minister.

Netanyahu also reportedly plans to appoint the former ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer, as Foreign Minister, which further exacerbated the situation.

Likud leaders knew that their coalition partners must eventually be given influential portfolios. Still, they need to understand why Netanyahu will appoint Dermer as foreign minister, even though he is not a member of the party or the Knesset.

Netanyahu is yet to form his cabinet. However, his associates are testing out several names to see the reaction of the political parties, which angered the Likud.

Several senior party officials said that Dermer's appointment would be an insult to party members.

Likud leaders know that the coalition parties do not demand the foreign affairs ministry and are not interested in it. This has increased their anger considering that Netanyahu proposed the position to Dermer only because he is his close friend.

Dermer has been the Prime Minister's advisor since his return to political life in 2003 when he was named the Minister of Finance. When Netanyahu became prime minister from 2009 until 2013, he chose Dermer as a political advisor and ambassador in Washington.

However, it is still undetermined whether the Likud leaders rejecting Dermer’s appointment will be able to stop it.

Netanyahu wants to name Dermer as a minister because he claims there are other important positions that Likud officials can occupy. He may also prefer to refrain from handing this post to one of his potential opponents within the party.

Netanyahu and his team continue their negotiations with the right-wing parties to reach an agreement to form the new government and present it to the Knesset.

On Sunday, he received an official letter from President Isaac Herzog to form a government that was supposed to be announced this week. Still, it was postponed following disputes over the ministerial positions, the judiciary, the Supreme Court, budgets, and religious schools.

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Lebanese President Faces Domestic, Foreign Challenges

Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun poses for a picture with his family at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, January 9, 2025. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun poses for a picture with his family at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, January 9, 2025. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
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Lebanese President Faces Domestic, Foreign Challenges

Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun poses for a picture with his family at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, January 9, 2025. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun poses for a picture with his family at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, January 9, 2025. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

The election of a new president in Lebanon does not mean the country has come out of the economic and political crises which have gutted it for years. Yet Thursday’s vote marks the beginning of a new phase that carries many challenges for the president and the upcoming government.

It is Joseph Aoun’s responsibility now to appoint a prime minister following binding parliamentary consultations and then form the Cabinet together with the PM.

According to observers, Aoun’s term should carry a roadmap to salvage the country, and a clear plan to address crises and domestic and foreign challenges.

However, there is no magic wand to solve Lebanon’s entire crises.

Instead, Aoun needs a unified working team that should draft a clear ministerial statement that reflects the President’s inaugural speech and his pledge of a “new era” for Lebanon.

“The president's speech constitutes a detailed program for governance. However, his program needs a cabinet capable of implementing it,” former Minister Ibrahim Najjar told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Najjar described the new President as an honest, clean and courageous Lebanese man.

“His election must be followed by the formation of a bold cabinet with new faces, capable of working and making achievements,” he said.

“The Lebanese people expect President Aoun to change the quota-based mentality of politicians. They hope his term will help remove old political figures, who are rooted in the Lebanese quagmire,” the former minister noted.

Former MP Fares Souaid told Asharq Al-Awsat that Aoun’s first task is to implement the Constitution and the National Accord document.

“In the early 1990s, the Constitution was no longer being implemented due to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. In 2005, the Constitution was again ignored because of Iranian arms.”

Therefore, Soueid said, the Lebanese eagerly expect this new era to constitute a real opportunity for the implementation of both documents.

For years, Lebanon has failed to properly implement its Constitution and UN resolutions, mainly because some political parties had considered their implementation as “a target against their so-called resistance.”

“With the election of President Joseph Aoun, Lebanon has opened a blank page that could meet the aspirations of the Lebanese people, and write a new chapter in the country’s history,” Najjar said.

According to Soueid, Aoun has a task to return Lebanon to its Arab identity. “This is slowly beginning to show through the decline of Iranian influence in the region,” he said.

Also, Soueid said, the new President should mend Lebanon’s relations with the international community by implementing all UN resolutions.

Addressing Parliament and Lebanese people with an acceptance speech, Aoun on Thursday vowed that the Lebanese authorities will have the monopoly on arms and will be committed to a strong state that will extend its sovereignty over the entire territory.

“This is in line with UN resolutions, which if implemented, will bring Lebanon back to the Arab and international scene,” Soueid said.