T. Belman. I am encouraged by this. These MK’s are staunch right-wingers and have their life at stake here. The fact that they could be won over tells me that they know things that we have no idea about. I happen to know also something that makes this whole thing understandable and more acceptable.
PM-designate Bennett meets with party members to counter Likud pressure to rebel; Yesh Atid, Yamina reject Knesset speaker’s demand to release still-unofficial coalition agreements
Today, 2:22 pm
Israelis demonstrate in favor of the so-called “change government” outside the home of Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett in Ra’anana, on June 4, 2021. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Yamina MK Ayelet Shaked arrives for a meeting with Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett and fellow Yamina MKs, at Bennett’s home in Ra’anana, on June 4, 2021. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)<
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Yamina MK Abir Kara arrives for a meeting with Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett and fellow Yamina MKs, at Bennett’s home in Ra’anana, on June 4, 2021. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)<
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Yamina leader and PM-designate Naftali Bennett speaks in a Channel 12 interview, June 3, 2021 (Channel 12 screenshot)<
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Yamina MK Idit Silman arrives for a meeting with Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett and fellow Yamina MKs, at Bennett’s home in Ra’anana, on June 4, 2021. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Prime minister-designate Naftali Bennett on Friday hosted members of his Yamina party in his Ra’anana home amid efforts to consolidate the support of all the party’s MKs for the emerging “change coalition” with the center and left, amid ongoing efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to peel away defectors.
Also Friday, Bennett and Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid called a Sunday evening meeting that will see the heads of all eight factions of the emerging “change government” meet together for the first time.
After the Yamina meeting ended, Yamina MK Abir Kara said it went “great.” He expressed confidence that Bennett had managed to prevent any further potential defections from the party — including by MK Nir Orbach, who is reportedly on the fence — and could even manage to bring rebel MK Amichai Chikli back into the fold. Chikli has vowed to oppose the proposed government.
“Bennett managed to keep everyone around him. Maybe we can get Chikli. I think it would be better for him to come with us too because he is another strong right-wing finger that can give us more strength and weight and be on the side that makes an impact,” Kara said.
The Bennett-Lapid coalition numbers 61 MKs in the 120-member Knesset, meaning that a single defection could prevent it from winning the parliamentary vote of confidence in needs to take power: Yesh Atid (17 seats), Blue and White (8), Yisrael Beytenu (7), Labor (7), Yamina (6 of its 7 MKs), New Hope (6), Meretz (6) and Ra’am (4).
Channel 12 news reported Friday that Orbach will announce his intentions at the beginning of next week.
Yamima MK Amichai Chikli (Olivier Fitousi/Flash90)<
The meeting came after protests were held outside the homes of Yamina No. 2 Ayelet Shaked and Orbach, in a campaign said to be orchestrated by incumbent Netanyahu to sway them away from the “change government.”
Hundreds took part in rallies outside their homes on Thursday night, a day after Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid officially declared that he could form a government. If formed, it would end the premier’s run of 12 consecutive years in office and relegate his Likud party and allied factions to the opposition.
On Friday, counter-protesters also showed up to support the new coalition — which will first be led by Bennett and then, from August 2023, by Lapid — holding up a banner reading: “Yes to a change government.”
Netanyahu’s Likud is also to meet Sunday. Netanyahu has urged all right-wingers in the “change coalition” to abandon it, and instead back him.<
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“I am sure that all Israeli citizens will miss Netanyahu, both on the left and on the right, his leadership and his amazing actions that have maintained Israel’s security,” Likud MK Miki Zohar told Radio 103FM.
Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin, also a Likud MK, publicly demanded that Lapid and Bennett immediately release the full text of the coalition agreements, which have remained unreleased as negotiations are expected to continue until the swearing-in.
The Yesh Atid and Yamina parties rejected the demand, saying in a joint statement that the agreements would be released to the public once they are finalized and signed.
Likud retorted with a tweet: “What do you mean ‘after they are signed’? You signed. Stop lying to the public.”
Coalition agreements only have to be published in full once they are submitted to the Knesset.
According to the still-unofficial coalition agreements, Lapid and Bennett agreed to allow additional parties to join the coalition after it is sworn in without the approval of all coalition parties, with Bennett’s goal being to get one of the ultra-Orthodox parties to join, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported Friday.
In their statement, Yesh Atid and Yamina also called on Levin to convene the Knesset plenum immediately to allow the approval of the new government.
On Thursday morning, the “change bloc” parties submitted 61 signatures, demanding a vote on a new Knesset speaker early next week. The move was intended to prevent Levin from stalling on a vote of confidence in the new government and to ensure that it happened next week, rather than the week after that.
Orbach’s signature had apparently been given to his party’s leaders, but on Thursday he quickly moved to withdraw his support. The Arab majority Joint List, which is not part of the coalition, then moved to prop up the effort by adding its own six votes to the bid.
But Yamina and Yesh Atid quickly distanced themselves from the Joint List’s backing, saying it had not been sought. Though Islamist party Ra’am is part of the new coalition, the Joint List is seen as less palatable to many right-wing members of the bloc.
A photo montage shows the leaders of parties in the prospective “change government” that Yesh Atid chief Yair Lapid announced he can form on June 2, 2021. (Flash90)<
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Yamina then said it would only vote to replace the Knesset speaker once the government itself was approved.
As Knesset speaker, Levin can legally delay a vote on the new government for a week or more, giving Netanyahu’s Likud party more time to try to peel away rebels from the right-wing factions of the unity coalition.
AIPAC SUPPORTS THE NEW GOVERNMENT. WHAT?
“AIPAC congratulated Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett on Thursday “for assembling a broad and diverse coalition — spanning the political spectrum of Zionist and Arab parties — to form an Israeli government pending Knesset approval. The formation of this government just two weeks after Iranian-backed terrorists fired more than 4,300 rockets at innocent Israeli civilians further demonstrates the resilience of Israel’s democracy and its commitment to democratic values.
“We look forward to further bolstering the bond between the US and Israel as the two democracies work in close partnership to advance our shared interests and values.”
When one reads articles such as the one Adam posted and listens to Caroline Glick, one on the right, one can’t help but be dismayed. Me too.
But to argue that all Yamina and New Hope MK’s are turncoats and weak-kneed is part of a smear campaign. I don’t buy it.
The fact that this Government is acceptable to them gives me hope if not assurance. So what could Bennett and Sa’ar be up to? What is there in the coalition agreements that give them confidence that they can accomplish what they want or protects them from what they don’t want.
Then there is this:
Planned Lapid-Bennett security cabinet would have right-wing majority
In what other ways are they protected?
I believe that in joining this government, they are pursuing a right wing agenda. They haven’t gone over to the left.
The column I just posted (“Nightmare for the Right”) was written by Dr. Limor Samimian-Darash
It is published by Israel Hayom.
From Israel Hayom:
This week’s radio program by Walter Bingham on Arutz Sheva is a must-listen-to to grasp the magnitude of the “own goal” disaster that Israel has inflicted on itself by the formation of the supposed “national unity government.” This is the written text that Bingham wrote an an introduction to his broadcast:
Shades of Winston Churchill getting usurped after winning WW11 and saving England from the Nazis. Now peace with 4 Arab Countries, best vaccination results in the world, and economic boom. Fire the bum.