Israeli Coalition Faces Fractures After Opposition Blocks Bill in Rare First
In a rare political win for the opposition, tensions surged within Israel’s coalition on Wednesday following the defeat of a coalition-backed bill in the Knesset plenum. The opposition capitalized on the absence of numerous Members of Knesset (MKs) from the coalition, leading to the removal of several other coalition-sponsored bills from the agenda.
The unexpected turn of events began when opposition MKs noticed the absence of Otzma Yehudit’s six MKs, mistakenly assuming they were boycotting the plenum. This assumption was linked to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to suspend talks about promoting Itamar Ben-Gvir to a small war cabinet following his controversial visit to the Temple Mount. Believing they had a majority, opposition members struck down a transportation ministry bill on taxi meter regulations in a narrow 21-20 vote.
Otzma Yehudit later clarified that their absence was due to an agreement with the coalition that all Wednesday’s bills would have bipartisan support, allowing MKs to be absent. However, the opposition claimed that the coalition violated this agreement, leading to the bill’s defeat and the further removal of other bills from the day’s agenda.
The bill’s defeat and the subsequent removal of others have exposed fractures within the coalition. Opposition coordinator MK Merav Ben-Ari stated that coalition MKs should have secured an absence offset from the opposition, a common custom in the Knesset.
