New political crisis in Israel! Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s coalition lost its majority in Parliament on Wednesday after the surprise departure of a right-wing MP immediately courted by opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
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In the evening, thousands of right-wing supporters gathered in Jerusalem to call for the fall of the government formed less than a year ago, in June 2021.
The ruling coalition now has 60 elected members, one less than the majority threshold in the Knesset (120 deputies in total) after the departure of Idit Silman, elected from Mr. Bennett’s radical right-wing Yamina party.
The latter and the centrist Yaïr Lapid had together formed this heterogeneous coalition supported by 61 deputies and bringing together the left, the center, right-wing parties and an Arab formation, a first in the history of the country, to put an end to more than 12 consecutive years of reign of Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I tried the path of unity. I have worked a lot for this coalition, but unfortunately I cannot harm the Jewish identity of Israel. I am ending my presence in the coalition and I will try to talk to my friends in order to return home and form a right-wing government. And I’m not the only one who feels that way,” Ms. Silman said.
In the process, Mr. Bennett met with the leaders of the member parties of his coalition.
“The most important thing now is to stabilize the coalition. I have spoken to the party leaders and all want to continue with this government which is working for the good of the citizens,” said the Prime Minister in a first reaction.
“Dangerous instability”
“The alternative is more elections and maybe more and more, to return to dangerous instability for Israel,” Mr. Bennett warned.
He accused supporters of Mr. Netanyahu in particular of having multiplied “verbal attacks” against Ms. Silman in order to push her to leave the coalition.
“Idit, you have just proven that what guides your action is the Jewish identity of Israel, the land of Israel, and I welcome you back to the national camp,” said Netanyahu, who leads a bloc bringing together his party, the Likud, Orthodox Jewish formations and the extreme right.
The coalition now has 60 seats – as many as the opposition. And if it manages to rally at least one other deputy, it could initiate a motion of censure and thus potentially lead the country towards new legislation, which would be the fifth in nearly three years.
“This is a difficult moment for the coalition. Crises happen in politics and this one is particularly difficult, ”acknowledged the leader of the Labor Party (left) and Minister of Transport, Merav Michaeli.
Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking to return to power despite his corruption trial, has called on other right-wing lawmakers in government to join his side.
“Leave!”
“The government is about to fall. I won’t name names, but there are other defectors. We are in contact with two other MPs who are considering the idea of joining our camp,” said a close friend of Mr. Netanyahu, MP Miki Zohar.
In front of the demonstrators in Jerusalem, Benjamin Netanyahu, welcomed in music, denounced “a weak government”.
“Tonight, we say one thing to the government: leave!” he launched under the cries of “Bennett, outside”.
The MP’s departure came after a row this week with Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz (left). The latter asked hospitals, in accordance with a decision of the Supreme Court, to authorize the distribution of sourdough bread – and not unleavened as is the Jewish tradition – during the Jewish Passover which begins next week.
But political commentators have argued that this motive was not the only cause, citing tensions within the coalition in Parliament bringing together both radical right and Arab Ra’am MPs, as well as pressure on this member to leave this camp.
“She was under constant pressure” since she had “taken the courageous decision to join the coalition,” said analyst Dahlia Scheindlin.