Jerusalem: Israel's future Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to quickly form a government suffered a setback on Sunday as a potential far-right coalition partner demanded a cabinet position as defense minister.

After a landslide right-wing victory on November 1 that ended nearly four years of political impasse, Netanyahu's conservative Likud was expected to quickly form alliances with like-minded religious-nationalist parties.

But there is a rift between Likud and the influential religious Zionism party, whose hardline settler leaders oppose a Palestinian state and want to annex the occupied West Bank, contradicting US administrations.

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Lawmakers from Religious Zionism want Betzel Smotrich to become defense minister to influence policy in the West Bank, which the Palestinians want for a future state and more than half of which is under Israeli military control. Likud wants to keep the key position.

On the subject of Smotrich, there were still misunderstandings and differences. Likud MP Miki Zohar said on Cannes radio that defense was "the most important portfolio" for the party and expressed hope that a solution would be found soon.

Orit Strock, a lawmaker from Religious Zionism, said his party would accept the finance portfolio but reject anything that would prevent it from having "true influence" on settlement growth in the West Bank.

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Strock complained to Kansas, "He (Netanyahu) is treating us not as partners, but as excess baggage."
Even the finance situation will be challenging for Netanyahu, who previously said Likud would retain the three key portfolios of defence, finance and foreign policy.

Israel disputes the legality of the settlements in most countries, but the Palestinians argue that their growth prevents them from establishing a sovereign state.

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The incoming government appears to be the most right-wing in Israel's history, regardless of which portfolios Religious Zionism wins. This forces Netanyahu to strike a delicate diplomatic balance between his coalition and Western allies.