The unity government deal signed by Blue & White Chairman Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week might have spared Israelis from an expensive fourth election cycle, but the taxpayer will still have to shell out for the overinflated coalition.
According to the numbers, the new government - set to be the biggest in the country's history - will cost the taxpayer more than NIS 900 million ($254 million) over the next three years. A bill Israelis will have split during the time when the economic growth is expected to significantly stagnate due to the coronavirus outbreak.
According to the deal signed between Blue & White and Likud, 52 lawmakers are set to be given a position around the government table - 36 ministers and 16 deputy ministers.
For comparison, the country's last government had 21-23 ministers.
The cost for the new government is expected to be almost a billion sheckels given the wide range of services granted to each minister and deputy minister.
A personal office and its employees, a salary, personal vehicle and driver, logistics and benefits (not including trips abroad and events), all add up to about NIS six million annually.
The annual cost of all the ministers adds up to about NIS 216 million (almost NIS 648 million over three years).
Each of the deputy minister's expenses adds up to about NIS three million each annually, bringing the total cost to about NIS 48 million, or about NIS 144 million over the span of three years.
Also according to the deal, ten new MKs are set to be sworn in to replace the ministers and deputy ministers who resigned their post as parliamentarians in order to focus on their governmental roles as part of the "Small Norwegian Law".
Each new MK will cost the state about NIS 1.5 million yearly, a total of about NIS 15 million over three years.
Another big cost will be the new official residence for the person who holds the role of the incumbent prime minister, in this case Benny Gantz, and this is before the operational costs of such a bloated cabinet - installation of bigger tables and security expenses for each member.