Resignation from Naftali Bennett’s Coalition Rocks Israel’s Government, Opening the Way — Maybe — for Return of Netanyahu

The wide coalition that has ruled Israel for nearly a year may prove too wide to stay in power, as a key player in the premier’s own party announces her resignation. Idit Silman, a member of Prime Minister Bennett’s Yamina party, is leaving the coalition and is expected to join Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud. Her resignation leaves the coalition without a majority in the Knesset, throwing Israel’s politics into turmoil and making a new election possible. A social media meme in Israel this morning harks to a recent Hollywood incident. In it, the head of Ms. Silman is superimposed on Will Smith’s body as she slaps Mr. Bennett, who is the Oscar night’s Chris Rock. Ms. Silman most recently complained about a move by the health minister, Nitzan Horowitz of the left-most coalition party, Meretz. According to press reports, Mr. Horowitz would allow chametz, or leavened bread, to be served in hospitals during the upcoming Passover holiday, when observant Jews consume only matzos, known as the bread of affliction. Beyond that “last straw,” as Ms. Silman called it, members of Yamina have apparently long been disillusioned with the coalition headed by their own Mr. Bennett. Ms. Silman’s husband, Shmulik, who is not a politician, recently said in an interview with a right of center website that joining a coalition with Meretz, the Arab party Raam, and the center-leftist Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party amounted to a betrayal of Yamina’s rightwing voters. After Ms. Silman’s resignation, Mr. Bennett gathered the remaining members of his party to try to talk them out of bolting the coalition as well. Mr. Netanayahu meanwhile posted on social media a video congratulating Ms. Silman for “returning home” and promising her, as well as other members of the coalition, viable seats in his Likud party. Ms. Silman ironically served as the coalition’s chairwoman in the Knesset. Her walk out means that the government of Mssrs. Bennett and Lapid is left with only 60 supporters in the 120-member parliament — short of the 61-seat majority needed for a government to survive a no-confidence vote.Coalition members are now turning to an Arab party, known as the Joint List, which is out of the coalition. The governing coalition is asking it to support the government if a no-confidence vote is scheduled.As yet, members of the Joint List haven’t budged. The Knesset, additionally, is currently on leave. A no-confidence vote would necessitate a special session approved by the Speaker, which might leave the coalition with some room to maneuver. While that and other stumbling blocks remain for Likud and its partners to regain a majority, the scent of a new election is once again in the air, which is no small development. For the current hybrid coalition’s biggest promise was to assure political stability in Israel after voters tired of endless rounds of elections. The fear of a return to short-lived governments and an interim premier is once again real for many Israelis. According to the coalition agreement, if the government falls due to a no-confidence vote and a new election is called, the current foreign minister, Yair Lapid, assumes the leadership as an interim prime minister for the period between the announcement and the post-election formation of a new government. If after an election no party can form a ruling coalition supported by at least 61 Knesset supporters, Mr. Lapid will remain in the leadership.In his rotation agreement with Mr. Bennett, Mr. Lapid, whose Yesh Atid party is the Knesset’s second largest party after Likud, was scheduled to take over as prime minister next year. Now he may be able to become prime minister much sooner, and stay in power for quite a while. That is, unless Mr. Netanyahu manages to lure enough right wing members of the current ruling coalition to join Ms. Silman. Likud members are lobbying hard for them to return to their “natural home” in a right-wing coalition. If Likud manages to gather enough supporters in the current Knesset, a new election may be avoided and the right wing will assume the country’s leadership. The biggest stumbling block to such a scenario is aversion to Mr. Netanyahu among some on the right. The former prime minister is embroiled in several corruption-related court cases. Former partners, including past Likud members like Gideon Saar, as well as Mr. Bennett and his party, have vowed to never support a coalition headed by Mr. Netanyahu.Although politically closer to Mr. Netanyahu than to their current coalition partners, these leaders might refuse to accept his leadership. The current wide coalition — which includes left wing secularists, Arab Islamists, center-leftists, and Yamina, which is the Hebrew word for “to the right” — has always seemed a bit of a stretch for Israel’s divided body politic. Now it looks like it has stretched too thin.

Resignation from Naftali Bennett’s Coalition Rocks Israel’s Government, Opening the Way — Maybe — for Return of Netanyahu

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