Netanyahu ally Yariv Levin elected as Knesset’s temporary speaker

Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party held a vote on December 13 morning and installed Yariv Levin as a temporary Knesset speaker until a new government is formed, replacing one of Yair Lapid’s key allies in a crucial first step for the new government’s legislative agenda, Report informs referring to Haaretz.

As many as 64 out of 120 deputies voted for Levin’s appointment.

Now that a temporary speaker has been selected, Netanyahu is expected to devote himself to filling the ministerial positions still available to Likud, now that many ministries have been awarded to other parties in his governing coalition.

He hasn’t yet decided who will be foreign minister and is still considering Ron Dermer, a former ambassador to the United States who is not an MK. The education and transportation portfolios are expected to go to Likud MKs Miri Regev and Eli Cohen, but he hasn’t determined which of them will get which ministry.