Netanyahu’s opponents succeed in passing on their proposal for control of the powerful Knesset organizing committee, which governs the Knesset, until a government is formed, thanks to the support of the Ra’am (United Arab List) party led by MK Mansour Abbas.
Meir Cohen, chairman of the Yesh Atid faction, said with 60 to 51. The party’s sources said their victory came after a successful meeting earlier Monday between their leader, Yair Lapid, and Abbas.
“I am grateful for my partners,” Lapid wrote on Twitter. “The victory in the vote on the Organizing Committee is another step on the road to a unity government in Israel.”
In return for his support, Lapid Ra’am offered a seat on the Knesset Finance Committee, chaired a committee to combat violence in the Arab sector and a deputy speaker of the Knesset. But in an interview with Channel 12, Abbas said the posts did not influence his decision.
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Officials from Yesh Atid said their first goal is to put to the vote by replacing Cohen as speaker of the Knesset Yariv Levin, who is the MK closest to Netanyahu. The majority of the Lapid bloc in the committee could help promote anti-Netanyahu legislation, including a bill that would prevent a candidate from forming a government under criminal charges.
The organizing committee will decide on the composition of the temporary committee on foreign affairs and defense and the finance committee, which will oversee Netanyahu and his government. It will also nominate the delegates of the Knesset speaker, making the process of electing a new president possible.
Netanyahu thought he would have a majority in the committee due to an agreement between Likud and Yamina. According to the agreement, Yamina would receive a second lock on the committee at the expense of Likud, in exchange for his votes. But then the Ra’am MKs, who were angry at Netanyahu’s deal with Yamina, entered the plenum and defeated the Likud proposal by a vote of 60-58. This led to the vote on the proposal of the anti-Netanyahu bloc, which did not attend Yamina’s seven MKs.
Yamina leader Naftali Bennett has made a decision to “go with the left”, Netanyahu said in a closed-door meeting with MKs of the Torah of Judah in the Knesset on Monday. He and Bennett held a tense meeting on Monday, their fifth since Netanyahu had a four-week mandate to form a government of President Reuven Rivlin two weeks ago.
“His feeling is that he has signed an agreement there,” a member of UTJ told The Jerusalem Post after the meeting with Netanyahu.
Netanyahu had earlier told his Likud faction that a government led by Bennett, whose party has seven seats, would be ‘absurd’.
“The moment of truth for Bennett has arrived,” Netanyahu said. “He promised not to sit under Lapid, with Meretz and Labor and with the support of the joint list. He must therefore stop galloping towards a left-wing government. ‘
In the closed door of the faction meeting, Netanyahu said that what his opponents call a unity government will only lead to more government paralysis and that it will be ‘very bad for Israel’.
Abbas said on Monday that he did not rule out allowing a Bennett-led government, just as he would not rule out enabling a Netanyahu-led government. Speaking with the emblem of Israel behind him, he said it was wrong to call MK members of the faction supporters of terror, as Smotrich did.
Smotrich, meanwhile, called on Bennett to decide whether he would be on the Right or the Left. He said he did not believe Bennett really supported a government that would rely on Ra’am, which he said identified with Israel’s enemies.
“Once it is clear where everyone stands, I am sure a right-wing government can be formed from the entire nationalist bloc,” Smotrich said at his faction meeting.
The leader of the New Hope, Gideon Sa’ar, told his faction that he would not allow Netanyahu to form a government or start a new Knesset race or a direct election for prime minister.
Sa’ar has for the first time since Netanyahu called on him to ‘come home to Likud’ in a speech on Friday in Ramat Gan.
“Our view has not changed,” Sa’ar said. ‘There are two alternatives: a right-wing government led by someone else [besides Netanyahu] or a unity government that will allow New Hope to maintain its worldview. Both options are better than new elections, whether for the Knesset or just for prime minister. ”
In an effort to form a coalition, Lapid met Monday with the heads of Yisrael Beytenu, Labor, Meretz and the Joint List, as well as Ra’am.
Defense Secretary Benny Gantz told his Blue and White faction that continued political uncertainty would be dangerous for Israel.
“If we do not unite among ourselves, we will not be strong against our enemies,” Gantz said.
Idan Zonshine and Tobias Siegal contributed to this report.