Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister of Israel. /
He intends a new executive led by Benjamin Netanyahu or that the prime minister calls legislative elections
The Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, will no longer receive the backing of opposition parliamentarians for any legislation, right-wing opposition party leaders have indicated at a Knesset news conference. The leaders of the Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism and Religious Zionism parties have thus indicated that their objective is to form an alternative government headed by the opposition leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, with the current Knesset or Israeli Parliament, and, if not, press for the calling of new elections.
In this sense, they have accused – except for the Arab majority party Joint List – the current government of trusting “supporters of terrorism”, as well as the Islamist party United Arab List, according to the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’ . “It is a mistake to support the coalition in anything, not even in a good bill,” said the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Aryeh Deri, adding that “it is wrong to give artificial resuscitation” to the current Executive, as collected the newspaper ‘The Jerusalem Post’.
“It is not pleasant to see a government drowning and struggling not to suffocate,” opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said, adding that members of the government “struggle to breathe while drowning,” according to the aforementioned newspaper. Following this, Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar has decided to postpone a bill to renew the application of rules to Israeli citizens living in the West Bank after the coalition was unable to muster support to secure its passage.
majority problems
Since losing its majority in early April and following several defections the following two months, the coalition has struggled to gain a majority in the Knesset to pass its legislative agenda. Rinauie Zoabi, a parliamentarian from the leftist Meretz party, announced a few months ago her departure from the government coalition after Idit Silman did the same weeks before, which left the Executive in a minority in Parliament.
Zoabi indicated in a letter sent to the coalition leaders, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, respectively, that his decision was motivated by what he described as a shift to the right by the government. “No more. I cannot continue to support the existence of a coalition that harasses Arabs in this disgraceful way,” said Zoabi, 50, born in the Arab city of Nazareth in northern Israel.
The current government took power in June after twelve consecutive years of Netanyahu as prime minister of Israel. The coalition, however, is made up of eight parties that cover the entire political spectrum after a historic agreement to avoid new elections, after four elections had to be held in two years due to the inability to form majorities.
