MK Shelly Yachimovich tweeted last night that a motion for transferring antitrust powers of Minister of Economy Aryeh Deri to the government has been put on the Knesset agenda for next week.
The motion does indeed appear on the Knesset agenda for next week but it is not yet clear whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a majority for such a measure and therefore whether it will come to a vote.
Netanyahu has already tried to transfer Deri's powers twice but on each occasion postponed the Knesset vote at the last minute because he had failed to muster a majority.
Political sources now say that Netanyahu is seeking a compromise whereby he would transfer Deri's powers to Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked rather than the entire cabinet but it remains unclear how he would obtain a majority, even for that move.
Netanyahu's problems stem from the fact that three ministers have announced that they will not take part in the vote because of conflicts of interest - Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Welfare Minister Haim Katz because of their connections to Kobi Mamon who holds a stake in the Tamar gas field, and Housing Minister Yoav Galant who owns shares in Isramco Ltd. (Nasdaq: ISRL; TASE: ISRA.L).
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 15, 2015
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