According to the report, Blue & White chairman Benny Gantz will be first in the joint list, while New Hope chairman Gideon Sa'ar would be second. Third will be Absorption Minister Penina Tamano-Shatta, followed by Culture Minister Yehiel Tropper. Yifat Shasha Bitton, currently Education Minister, would be fifth, Michael Biton sixth, and Housing & Construction Minister Ze'ev Elkin would be seventh on the list.
Conspicuous in his absence is Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel of New Hope, who was not invited to the meeting of New Hope ministers called for Sunday noon to discuss the joint list.
Blue & White would have two thirds of the seats on the list while New Hope would be allocated the remaining third.
The agreement follows polls showing the New Hope party struggling to cross the electoral threshold.
It is still unclear whether Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana will receive an offer to join this new amalgamation. Senior officials estimate that the signing is a temporary measure aimed to closing the gap with Lapid and attracting more centrist voters, and also to enticing former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot to join the new list rather than Yesh Atid. The breakthrough took place last Thursday. An announcement is expected soon.
Should Eizenkot agree to join the list he would be granted second place, pushing Sa'ar down to third place on the list.
