In one respect, at least, the new government is off to a running start in creating jobs. To induce party leaders to join the coalition, the Netanyahu-Gantz government has ballooned in size. It has increased the number of ministers and dangled other plums, adding more than $225 million in yearly costs, said Yohanan Plesner, president of the nonpartisan Israel Democracy Institute. (Mr. Netanyahu put the added expense at only $24 million, and said this was far less than the $500 million or more a fourth election would have cost the Israeli economy.)

Source: New York Times May 17, 2020 14:32 UTC