Crack in Netanyahu Armor Fuels Election Ardor

It was not so much what the defeated amendment to a bill meant as it was that it happened at all. A legislative initiative of the Binyamin Netanyahu-led government was defeated sending a rare message of vulnerability about the prime minister and fueling opposition hopes that when elections come, the PM will go. The legislation was an amendment to the Israel Lands Law, its defeat coming on the first attempt to legislate since co-right-winger and defense minister Avigdor Liberman resigned from his ministerial office and pulled his party from the coalition leaving Netanyahu with a bare-bones single-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament, or Knesset. Lest the loss be minimized, take note that following the vote, the governing coalition scrapped the remainder of the session, cancelling all other votes on proposed legislation. A toothless no-confidence motion passed but without enough support to actually bring down the government. That too, could have come to pass had Education Minister Naftali Bennett not blinked first and folded after threatening to join Liberman on the opposition benches if he was not named to fill the defense portfolio – which, ultimately Netanyahu assumed himself. Notwithstanding the drama, the scenario is typical of the final days of Israeli administrations and part of the natural growth of election fever from onset to the ballot box. Media pundits have been focusing on March as the most likely time for new elections, a prediction echoed by the current finance minister.