Leaders of Israel’s coalition are scrambling to keep the government from collapse following Wednesday’s dramatic defection of a member of prime minister Naftali Bennett’s party after she struck a deal with opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu.
The decision by Knesset member Idit Silman reportedly came after Mr Netanyahu promised her a safe slot on his Likud slate and to appoint her health minister if he forms the next government.
Her move, which took Mr Bennett by surprise, means both the governing coalition – comprising eight disparate parties from across the political spectrum – and the opposition now both have 60 representatives in the 120-member Knesset parliament.
Ms Silman, from the right-wing Yamina, decided to quit the government in response to ongoing ideological differences with left-wing coalition factions. “I can’t go on anymore,” she told her close associates.
The issue that ostensibly prompted her to defect was a high court ruling allowing visitors to bring bread products into hospitals during the week-long Passover festival which starts next week. Religious Jews refrain from eating leavened bread during Passover, and hospitals in the past had banned such products from their premises during the festival.
Left-wing health minister Nitzan Horowitz had welcomed the court ruling and instructed hospital directors to act accordingly.
Ms Silman, an observant Jew who served as coalition whip, said that she had invested a lot of work in the unity government, but said that she could no longer “lend a hand to the damage to the Jewish character” of Israel. She called for a right-wing government to be formed instead.
Most analysts believe the government will not last long without a parliamentary majority, meaning the most likely options are now new elections or the formation of an alternative government without dispersing the Knesset, if the government loses what is termed a constructive no-confidence vote.
Quitting coalition
Coalition members put on a brave face, asserting that Ms Silman’s resignation would not necessarily topple the government. “In a 60-60 situation, we will hang on,” said a coalition source. “If there’s another resignation, that’ll be another story.”
Mr Netanyahu called on other right-wing representatives to join Ms Silman in quitting the coalition, and sources in his Likud party say other defectors will also be offered a safe slot on the party list.
“We will form a government that will look out for all of Israel’s citizens, will defeat terrorism, will fight the Iranian nuclear programme, will lower taxes and will fight violence in the Arab sector. You can earn your world with one decision that will save Israel from the government of weakness. Make this correct decision today,” he urged.
Mr Bennett immediately held meetings with the remaining members of his small right-wing faction, knowing that one more defection will likely lead to the end of the coalition which has only served 10 months.
Other right-wing coalition parties have expressed a willingness to discuss joining an alternative Likud-led government but only if Mr Netanyahu is replaced as Likud leader.